Another portion of sanctions against Russian hockey. Now the Finnish players in the KHL can not wait. Read more about what happened and how Ban from Finns revealed violations of the regulations in the material of metaratings.ru.

The Finns from the KHL is officially forbidden to play for the national team. There are already the first refuseniks from the league

Another portion of sports sanctions against Russian hockey. Now the Finnish players in the KHL can not wait. Read more about what happened and how Ban from Finns revealed violations of the regulations in the material Metaratings.ru.

Players performing in Russia next season will not be able to play for the Finnish national team. How hockey bosses Suomi fight with the KHL

The next KHL season ended only a couple of days ago, and the news about the season is already actively going on. While the clubs are conducting the first exchanges, the real bomb came from the Finland hockey federation.

“The position of the Finnish hockey association is that the players performing in Russia will not be able to play for the Finnish national team next season,” the official message said.

The announced decision, although it became great news, but still cannot be called completely unexpected. After the start of the special military operation of Russian troops in Ukraine, Finnish hockey began to massively turn away from the KHL. Last season, 30 players from Finland had contracts in the KHL. Gradually, many began to break their agreements with clubs. Even such top -end players as Theema Harticainen, Yukh Metsool, Ville Pokka and others left.

The culmination of the Finnish “refusal” was the way out of the Yokerite league from Helsinki. The club did not even start the first round of the Gagarin Cup, which is why Spartak immediately went to the semifinals of the Western Conference. The Finns have already announced the desire to spend the next season in their national championship, and all Russian members of the Yokerit board and his home Hartwall Arena have already left the managerial positions.

“Motorist” on May 1 announced the transition of three Finns. Two will definitely terminate contracts

Some Finns from the KHL left silently and even in the course of the KHL playoffs, like Avangard players during a series with Ak Bars. Others tried to somehow explain themselves. “Hello, Ufa! This is Theema Hartikainen. This is probably the most difficult day in life. Today I had to make a decision. I had two options: go home to the family or stay here and continue to play. I decided to return home. I would not want to discuss the reasons for a long time and much, but I would like to thank everyone in Ufa, those who have supported me throughout all these years. I want to say thanks to the club, everyone who is behind us – players, everyone who helped to do our work, made an open letter for Salavat Yulaev’s fans of the Olympic champion of this year.

But some organizations still decided to bet on the Finns in the new season. One of the richest clubs in the league, Avtomobilist, the very next day after the end of the season, announced the signing of contracts with three Finnish hockey players at once. Goalkeeper Juha Metsola, defender Jyrki Jokipakka and striker Miro Aaltonen have joined the Ekaterinburg club, the official website of the Urals announced on May 1st. All three played in the KHL last season, but that season seems to be their last in their Russian careers. According to one of them, there is already a reaction from general manager Jari Lehtonen.

Hello, Ufa! This is Teemu Hartikainen. This is probably the hardest day of my life. Today I had to make a decision. I had two options: go home to my family or stay here and keep playing. I decided to return home. I would not like to discuss the reasons for a long time, but I would like to thank everyone in Ufa, those who supported me throughout all these years. I want to say thank you to the club, to everyone who stands behind us – the players, everyone who helped to do our work – the Olympic champion of this year issued an open letter to the fans of Salavat Yulaev.

But some organizations still decided to bet on the Finns in the new season. One of the richest clubs in the league, Avtomobilist, the very next day after the end of the season, announced the signing of contracts with three Finnish hockey players at once. Goalkeeper Juha Metsola, defender Jyrki Jokipakka and striker Miro Aaltonen have joined the Ekaterinburg club, the official website of the Urals announced on May 1st. All three played in the KHL last season, but that season seems to be their last in their Russian careers. According to one of them, there is already a reaction from the general manager of the Finnish national team, Jere Lehtonen.

“Contrary to yesterday's news, Aaltonen will not go to Russia next season. He signed a contract for the 2022/23 season before the Olympics,” he said. Avtomobilist itself has not yet responded to the information from the Finnish side. The news about the transfer of three Suomi players is still hanging on the site.

Metsola's agent Jarmo Kork also confirmed that his client was returning home. “Yuha signed the contract at the beginning of January. I wonder why the club announced the agreements of the Finnish players right now. They are not stupid, they know that the Finns will not go to Russia in the current situation. Metsola's transfer card returns to Finland. Now we can ask the International Ice Hockey Federation not to send Juha's transfer card back to Russia, he said in an interview with Italehti.

Contracts with the Finns Motorist slept that he signed them before the end of the season. It's a violation of the rules

The words of Lehtonen and Kork suddenly revealed the main secret of Avtomobilist. Both reported that the agreements between Aaltonen and Metsola were concluded long before the end of the season, and this is forbidden.Clause 1.38 of Article 58 of the Legal Regulation of the KHL obliges the clubs Do not negotiate with players having existing contracts with other KHL clubs. It turns out that Yekaterinburgers not only negotiated, but also signed contracts with players who at that time had existing agreements in their hands. The hockey players themselves, who have already designed their future in a competing club, look in the best light in the best light. It is clear that all transfer insids do not arise from emptiness, and agents communicate with general managers during the season. But everything happens more or less non -public, and here – obvious facts from officials about the conclusion of contracts long before the finish season. It is interesting whether the League will now punish for such a “Motorist” arbitrariness.

But the Finns of the Motorist are not the only ones for whom there are questions regarding the next season. The last 4 seasons in the KHL is the striker of Pulkkinen. Now the former striker Detroit and Minnesota has a valid contract with the Chelyabinsk Tractor until the end of the next season. He had not played for the Finnish national team for a long time, although 6 years ago he took silver with his country at the World Cup, which then held in Russia. Perhaps the ban on the team’s games is not so terrible, but it is possible that the National Hockey Federation will still insist on terminating his contract in the KHL.

The reaction to the ban on the participation of Finnish players in the next season of the KHL already followed from the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

“The absurdity reached the limit. Well, and people who have companies here, do they leave everything and return to their country? Hockey players have contracts, they will not be able to just take and leave. Russophobia rose to another level. They wanted to say loudly, so that they would hear in America. It doesn’t matter that hockey players may not play later, ”said deputy Svetlana Zhurova in an interview with metaratings.ru.

It seems that in the new season the KHL audience will not see a single Finnish hockey player. There are no other data yet, but it will no longer be a surprise if in the next season there are no other foreigners in the main hockey tournament of Russia.