Svishchev – about the ban on Ovechkin to give an interview in Russia: “A normal story, I do not see any political background here”

State Duma deputy, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, Dmitry Svishchev told Match TV that he did not see political motives in the decision of the National Hockey League (NHL) to ban the Russian striker “Washington Capitals” to Alexander Ovechkin to give an interview in Russia.

On Monday, Match TV, citing a source, said that the NHL forbade Ovechkin to give an interview in Russia, since the league is making an exclusive film about a 39 -year -old hockey player. According to Match TV, the best sniper in the history of the NHL will fly to Russia on July 7.

– It’s quite a normal story, I don’t see any political background here, if the only question is that the NHL is shooting a film about Ovechkin and there are certain restrictions on the interview. This is probably due to the terms of the contract. Here you do not need to look for some political component. There are restrictions, the requirements of the director’s group, scriptwriters, contractors. People want their film and interviews to be unique and exclusive. There is nothing unusual and amazing.

But if there is no policy here, but only business, as they say. If this is a political story that is covered by these reasons, then this is another. If this is a reason and a reason to limit Alexander’s speeches, he is a sufficiently media and active person accessible to the press and the media, then maybe they do not want his activity in life to be dated to Russia.

Ovechkin is no longer just an athlete, it is a global brand. Therefore, it is valuable not only for Russians, his fans and Russian sports, ”Svishchev said“ Match TV ”.

The start of the new NHL season is scheduled for October 7th.