regulations

Yesterday, Vladislav Tretyak held his first council of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) as its president. It adopted the preliminary regulations of the championship and confirmed Russia’s accession to the agreement between the International Hockey Federation and the National Hockey League. In addition, it was decided to give Spartak Moscow a chance to return to the elite. The question of the national team coach, contrary to promises, was not even discussed.

“The main result of the discussion is this: it has been confirmed that the Russian championship in the Super League and Major League will now be held not by the Professional Hockey League, but by the FHR,” Vladislav Tretyak said after the meeting. “There must be one owner in domestic hockey. But I want to emphasize: continuity is maintained. All those specialists who worked in the PHL went to work in the newly created department for holding FHR competitions."

The Council approved almost everything that Vladislav Tretyak agreed on at a meeting with the heads of Super League clubs held last week. According to the regulations of the national championship, a preliminary decision was made: in the next season, 19 clubs will take part in the championship - teams that played in the previous one, with the exception of those dropped out due to financial insolvency of Molot-Prikamye and Spartak, and who took the first three places in the highest leagues "Wings of the Soviets", "Traktor" and "Amur". The eight strongest teams based on the results of the three-round tournament will continue to fight in the playoffs. All series will be played up to three wins.

And this is a preliminary decision because an agreement was reached to give Moscow Spartak a chance to find the necessary funds and return to the elite. “But the Spartak team has a tight deadline. They must do everything before the next Monday or Tuesday. We can’t wait any longer. The teams need a calendar, the start of the season is just around the corner,” Mr. Tretyak emphasized. He also said that another Moscow team, Krylya Sovetov, suddenly had problems. Its leadership cannot agree in any way on the transfer of the sports palace in Setun to the balance of the club. Its current owner, the VILS plant (All-Russian Institute of Light Alloys), does not want to give up the palace on the proposed terms. It is possible that “Wings” may leave the super league next week: only those teams that have an arena with 5.5 thousand seats or more have the right to play in it.

Russia's accession to the agreement concluded by representatives of European hockey powers through the International Hockey Federation with the National Hockey League was approved unanimously. The leaders of Russian clubs at the beginning of the season refused to sign him, citing his extortionate conditions, but ended up losing. Last season, Super League teams did not receive a penny from the North Americans. Now they will be transferred $200 thousand for each departing hockey player.

There were no disputes in connection with the introduction of a tax on legionnaires (only the numbers were adjusted). Now the club will have to pay for every foreigner on its roster. For a field player - 750 thousand rubles, and for a goalkeeper - 4.5 million rubles. Any player who does not have the right to play for the Russian national team will be considered a foreign player. Hockey players who played for other national teams, but have a Russian passport, were, however, given a relaxation. They can write a statement to the FHR International Department with an official refusal to play for their former national teams. If they do this before August 1, they will no longer be considered legionnaires. The limit on foreign players remains the same: a club cannot register more than three foreigners for a match.

The salary cap for hockey players was also unanimously approved. The team’s payroll should not be less than 100 million and more than 300 million rubles.

But the question of a new coach of the Russian national team was not even discussed. “Yes, we promised that the name of the head coach of the Russian national team would be named at this council,” Mr. Tretyak explained to Kommersant. “But the decision is too serious, so we agreed to wait a little longer. I am currently negotiating with five specialists - Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Boris Mikhailov, Pyotr Vorobyov and Valery Belousov. I think that everything will finally become clear in a week.” Vladislav Tretyak also added that the new coach will sign at least a two-year contract. “You cannot change a coach after the first failure. He must work for the future. In general, I would like the next coach to work until the Olympics in Vancouver. But at the same time, there will be no progress without a positive result. Therefore, I think that if in two years The team will not have success, we need to make appropriate decisions. What do I mean by success? World Championship medals of any value.”

ALEXEY J-ZHUK

Spartak will wait in the Super League