The general director of the FHR said that the IIHF has no questions about Bure’s membership in the organization’s council

General Director of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) Dmitry Kurbatov said that world champion and Olympic medalist Pavel Bure will remain a member of the board of the International Hockey Federation (IIHF).

In February, the IIHF extended the suspension of Russians for the 2024/25 season due to the situation in Ukraine. Bure was elected to the IIHF Council in September 2021 at the organization’s congress, which was held in St. Petersburg.

— Igor Kuperman in an interview with Match TV said that we need to negotiate, constantly pull the IIHF. Is it realistic to find a common language with them? When will they return Russia to the international stage?

— From the outside it’s always great to give advice, you seem smart. In fact, we have no problems with the IIHF, we communicate. I couldn’t go to the congress, they made me understand that it was better to speak online. During the congress, Alexander Kiknadze and I took the floor several times. The trick is that, being online, my face was on a five-meter-sized screen – above the entire presidium.

-What were we talking about?

— There were many legal incidents, things that, in our opinion, were incorrectly formulated and voted on. On one issue they began to re-vote. They wanted to make it not 14 members (of the IIHF Council), but 15, but Congress initially voted against it. Then they raised the question that it would be guaranteed that there would be not two women, but three. This is generally a humiliation of women’s rights when they are guaranteed some places – they have to choose. And then, when they voted against both questions, they brought up the same question for discussion, but combining the two. We protested and asked how it was possible to drag something that had not passed to a vote.

— Are they leaving Pavel Bure?

— There were no questions about Bure. All members of the council were chosen as personalities, he is not as a representative of Russia. Yes, he is Russian, he was nominated by us, but he was elected by Congress, so there are no questions. It’s also not easy for Pavel to communicate with them,” Kurbatov told Match TV.

The forum “Russia is a Sports Power” started in Ufa on Thursday; the event will last until October 19.