Metallurg's vice-president Sergei Laskov accused the KHL leadership of disregarding the championship participants because of the decision to hold a match between Magnitogorsk and Astana in Nur-Sultan, despite the introduction of a state of emergency in the city due to riots in Kazakhstan.

“Ask the league how you are doing! On what basis did they turn to Sergei Kozlov (interim vice president of the KHL for hockey operations, director of the department for holding league competitions - RBK), who said that he would not transfer anything, - said Laskov TASS.

“Why was the clause violated and under the state of emergency in the country, a team with [understandable] what kind of psychological attitude was forced to play a match when everyone was not deaf,” he added.

The KHL explains the holding of the match in protest-ridden Kazakhstan Hockey The match Astana - Metallurg took place on Wednesday, January 5, and ended with a score of 3: 2. The game was held without spectators in connection with the introduction of a state of emergency in Nur-Sultan. The KHL sports regulations state that in regions where a curfew or a state of emergency has been declared, matches are prohibited.

In a statement from the Magnitogorsk club, it is noted that “already in the morning [on the day of the match] there were noticeable interruptions in communication - the Internet was unstable”. “On the way from the Arena to the hotel, we noticed police patrolling on the streets,” the text says. - Before leaving for the match, we learned that a state of emergency was introduced in Nur-Sultan. Naturally, we immediately tried to contact the leadership of the League, which was not so easy to do. Communication was still unstable. We managed to get through: the League invited the team to stay at the hotel until more information is received - for an indefinite period. "

Metallurg reported that after confirming the information about the introduction of the state of emergency, "the club, relying on the KHL regulations, again turned to the league leadership with a proposal to postpone the match to another date that would suit all interested parties." “However, the KHL gave an order to hold the match, but play it without spectators,” the message says.

The club emphasized that "it was faced with a flight delay already upon departure from Nur-Sultan: the technical services of the airport did not properly prepare the aircraft." “Regular flights were canceled altogether, so the club went to meet the KHL and took on board a team of referees who worked at the match, which risked getting stuck in Kazakhstan,” the statement says.

Barys and Metallurg will play without spectators due to the state of emergency in Nur-Sultan. authorities and clubs.

The state of emergency is in effect in the capital of Kazakhstan until January 19. During this period, Barys is scheduled to play another home match on January 17 against Ak Bars Kazan.

The reason for the massive protests in Kazakhstan, which began on January 2, was the increase in prices for liquefied gas for cars. Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev blamed the incident on the government, which resigned on the morning of January 5.

bbabo.Net