Europe is waiting for a grand sporting event – the landing of NHL stars is planned in the capitals of the Old World. The hockey holiday could not have been so bright – some politicians, out of habit, decided to discriminate against Russians. However, the league did not tolerate Russophobia and stood up for its hockey players. The Czechs were afraid of punishment and backed down.

An instructive example for all international sports organizations.

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The National Hockey League has scheduled Global Series matches in several European countries – Finland, Germany, the Czech Republic. The latter stood out from the rest – in Prague, the league intended to hold official matches of the regular season, while friendly meetings were offered to other Europeans.

Czech hockey fans were on October 7 and 8 to watch the matches with the participation of Nashville and San Jose. However, due to the unwise actions of local politicians, the NHL’s visit to Prague had a real chance of falling through. The host country refused to issue visas to the Russian participants of the North American teams.

“We can confirm that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a letter to the leadership of the NHL, in which it warned that neither the Czech Republic, nor any other state of the Schengen zone should issue visas to Russian players to enter our territory at this time,” Blesk quoted the Deputy Foreign Minister as saying. Czech Republic Martin Smolek.

Thus, the visit to Europe of Sharks players Alexander Barabanov and Evgeny Svechnikov, as well as Yakov Trenin representing the Predators, was in jeopardy. Probably local hockey fans would survive the absence of Russians on the ice. These are still not superstars like Alexander Ovechkin or Andrei Vasilevsky. And the league was probably able to endure small losses in order to strengthen its position in the local market. But in the NHL, they did not stand on ceremony with the Czechs, who lost their shores on the basis of Russophobia. The leadership of the league transparently hinted to the host side – either the teams are going to Prague in full force, or the Czech fans simply will not see the matches with the participation of overseas teams.

“Must let in”

It could be assumed that the threats from the NHL would not cause understanding among North American fans, and under pressure from the public, the league would be forced to accept the terms of the Czechs. However, hockey fans, on the contrary, were not enthusiastic about the Europeans’ attempt to play politics. As a result, it was the host side that faced a difficult choice – to moderate their zeal in matters of Russophobia or be left without a long-awaited spectacle.

Photo: © Kavin Mistry / Contributor / National Hockey League / Gettyimages.com

– It is still true that Russian players cannot obtain visas in the Schengen area. If they already have valid visas, they should be allowed in,” the Czech News Agency quoted Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky as saying.

Even in this situation, when the Czechs were put in their place, they made an attempt to save face. The head of the Foreign Ministry himself was forced to speak about the participation of Russian players, threateningly recalling that Russian hockey players would not receive any visas in the Schengen zone. However, even before Lipavsky’s words, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daily noted that there would be no problems with visas:

— We have no concern for the Russian players. Everyone who needs visas already has them, ”the San Jose Hockey Now official quotes.

To perceive what happened as some kind of success of Russian sports, of course, is not worth it. But still, it’s nice to see how a sports organization puts politicians who have played Russophobia in their place. It is a pity that the IOC, IIHF and other international structures are still unable to do this.