The well-known hockey functionary Leonid Weisfeld spoke about the exclusion of the Russian team from the Eurotour for two years.
“From my point of view, the story is as follows. From the sporting side, the Eurotour may be needed, but it is not of great interest. The financial aspect – yes, there is an opportunity to earn money, they talked about it in the FHR. International experience is also needed, but we need to understand what tasks we are pursuing. If we want to make a strong league, then the Eurotour should follow the leftover principle.
I believe that the most important thing, if we want to raise the level of hockey in the country, should be the league. Everything else is secondary. The same world championships should be treated in the same way as Canadians: whoever is free, he goes. There is no need to stop domestic competitions for the sake of international competitions. Otherwise, we will never get spectators at hockey. In general, it is wrong that the country leading in hockey is removed from the competition. The FHR is doing the right thing by fighting and filing appeals, sooner or later the issue will be resolved»– quotes the words of Weisfeld “Championship”.
Switzerland will take the place of the Russian team. The tournament will be held in Stockholm on May 5-8. It will also feature Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic.
