MINSK, 30 May (BelTA) – Speaking at the Olympic meeting of the Belarusian National Olympic Committee on 30 May Belarus President, President of the National Olympic Committee Alexander Lukashenko promised assistance in addressing the issue with the status of Belarusian ice hockey players in Russia, BelTA has learned.
Head coach of HC Yunost Minsk Mikhail Zakharov noted at the meeting that players changing citizenship and leaving to play in other countries is one of the key issues in the national sport. “The best players we train change citizenship and go to Russia. The national team faces the same situation,” he said.
According to Mikhail Zakharov, Belarusian and Kazakhstan citizens are considered foreign players in Russia. “This is unfair. By law they all have the right to work. This does not pertain to the sport industry, however. Something should be done here. We are the Union State,” he stressed adding that the corresponding issues have been settled in the European Union.
Alexander Lukashenko agreed that the situation sounds unreasonable from the legal point of view. “We will try to do something about it. I think it is not a big problem for Russia. I doubt that they will have a big inflow of players from Belarus,” the Belarusian leader said.
“We need to study the issue, decide what to do. This issue has already been raised before,” the head of state added.
The president also stressed the need to strictly meet the commitments on the contract with athletes. “We train athletes. Big money is invested. We are not going to keep athletes if they want to work somewhere else. However, they, first of all, should compensate all the expenses to the state. For this reason, a contract with the athlete is a must,” the president said.
