A hockey holiday and a celebration of sports without political scandals and provocations. This is how the organizers wanted to see the World Cup in Finland, removing the Russian team from participation. The plans failed on the first day.

The Finnish national team got into an unpleasant story, not having time to go on the ice. The political action of the hosts of the tournament embodies everything they fought against, removing Russia from the tournament. Here you have both a scandal and a provocation.

The Finnish national team in the absence of Russian hockey players looks almost like the main contender for gold. Firstly, the competitions are held on the territory of the “lions”. Secondly, they recently won the Olympics. It would seem, come out, show beautiful hockey, please the full stands and win. But instead, the Finns set the tone for the tournament from the very beginning, making it clear that hockey is not given the first and not the main place here.

The staff of the arena in Tampere placed in the locker room of the Finnish national team not the country’s flag that we are used to – a white rectangle with a blue cross, which would be logical and understandable, but the banner used by the Ministry of Defense. In the people, it is simply called the “war flag”. The state flag with “pigtails” is used by the Armed Forces, their departments, institutes, units and divisions, ships and vessels.

The main difference from such a flag from the “civilian” one is the form. The short sides of the canvas end in three sharp protrusions, while the flag of Finland is a rectangle. Also in the center on a red background is a yellow lion – the coat of arms of the country.

Interestingly, the dressing room video was posted on the official Finnish national team YouTube channel. Without this video with a tour of the arena, ordinary spectators might not have seen which banner is hanging in the Finns’ dressing room.

It is obvious that there is a provocation. And it is just as obvious that the Finns are belligerent not in relation to one of the rivals, but in relation to Russia, which has been removed from the tournament. Surely we will hear about a technical error due to the lack of the necessary flag at hand, and about the deliberate use of a military symbol to raise morale. Or maybe someone will tell the truth. No wonder the “war flag” was not only hung in the locker room, but also shown in the video.

The first comments from the Finnish team have already been received. Team administrator Miku Kortelainen does not see anything seditious in the use of the flag of the Armed Forces.

– This flag has been hanging in the locker room for six years. We treat it the way a valuable flag should be treated and keep it with dignity. During the celebrations in the dressing room, we take it off so that it does not get dirty. Certain stories remain within the team. We value our flag and the government knows it. So far, we have not received any instructions that the flag should be changed. We are ready to do this if required, – Ilta-Sanomat quoted Kortelainen as saying.

Theoretically, the Finnish authorities can remove the flag from the locker room, because the use of this symbol outside the powers of the Ministry of Defense is prohibited. That’s just a violation of the law in this case, no one cares.

It would not hurt to analyze the situation for violations and the International Ice Hockey Federation. Can you imagine what would happen if the flag of the Ministry of Defense appeared in the locker room of the Russian national team? However, to expect such a reaction to the Finnish trick is at least naive.

And there is a feeling that this scandal is only the beginning of a “safe” and “calm” World Cup without Russia.