René Fasel, who is comfortable with Vladimir Putin and has Russian citizenship, is still the honorary president of the IIHF. It feels strange to say the least, writes Jussi Paasi.
Jussi Paasi sports reporter
PRAGUE.
During the World Cup, information about matches or, for example, statistics is sometimes searched for on the website of the International Ice Hockey Federation, i.e. IIFH.
So this time too. But at the same time, I half-accidentally got lost a little deeper on the IIFH website. I ended up looking at the assembly of the boss ladder. Who is in power there today?
And at the same time, a startling sight caught my eye, which was found in the “Life Presidents & Honorary Presidents” section. At the top of the list of lifetime and honorary presidents is Dr. René Fasel.
Therefore Vladimir Putin a Swiss dentist known for his numerous pro-Russia stances, who smoothly slipped into the circle. Fasel served as the IIHF president from 1994 to 2021 and even then strongly pursued the interests of Russia and the Russian KHL league.
Today, Fasel owns 54 percent of the Russian apple-producing company Alma Holding. The remaining 46 percent is held by Volga Group Agro, which is part of the oligarch Gennady Timchenko owned Volga Group.
Timchenko belongs to Putin’s inner circle. He is the former owner of Jokerie, who still owns a share of the background company of Helsinki hall.
The close relationship between Fasel and Putin appeared on Finns’ retinas already ten years ago. At the World Cup in Belarus in 2014, Fasel celebrated Russia’s goals in the stands with Putin when Russia beat the Lions in the final.
Fasel received Russian citizenship last year. That alone tells enough about whose ranks the honorable honorary chairman stands in.
The IIHF said a little over a year ago that its ethics committee would investigate Fasel’s actions and his statements about the war in Ukraine. Despite everything, Fasel has been allowed to keep the title of honorary president of the IIHF.
It seemed strange to say the least, so I decided to ask the International Hockey Federation about it. I first contacted the general secretary of the IIHF, the former CEO of the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation Matti Nurminen.
Nurminen communicated that he would not comment on any political topics. He directed to contact the IIHF media department. I sent an email there. I asked who would be the right person to answer questions about Fasel’s title.
To my surprise, I received a polite reply quickly, in just over an hour. However, the email was signed by IIHF Media, so I didn’t know who I was communicating with.
This extremely polite IIHF Media asked to send the questions about Fasel’s presidency in writing. I did the work as ordered.
I sent such questions by email:
1) Is the IIHF going to let Fasel keep the title of honorary president?
2) Has the IIHF had any plans to take it away from him?
3) If not (there are plans to take the title away), then how is it possible that Fasel is still the honorary chairman, even though he supports Vladimir Putin’s propaganda in Russia?
You can probably guess whether the questions were ever answered. My faceless messaging buddy IIHF Media went completely silent.
It again revealed the arrogance of the International Hockey Federation. Difficult things are kept quiet.
A descriptive example of the silence was also given in connection with the quarter-final match between Sweden and Finland.
My colleague Jussi Saarinen tried to get the new chairman of the Ice Hockey Association in front of the camera after the match Heikki from Hieta, who was on the spot in Ostrava. Saarinen called Hietane twice and also approached him by text.
You already know how it turned out. Hietanen didn’t answer anything.
Later, Hietanen agreed to an interview with .
“Overall, a great performance from Leijon”, was Hietanen’s assessment. Finland’s ranking in the World Championships was eighth. It was the worst result since 1955.
Hietanen was the general secretary of the World Championships organized in Tampere last spring. Then he stated after the tournament that the media sometimes lives in a different reality than the real situation.
Hmm. Maybe the faceless and impersonal IIHF Media reflects the “real situation” and I live in some other reality when I don’t understand why the IIHF doesn’t answer questions and how the Lions’ worst ranking in almost 70 years can be a “great performance”.
I am looking forward to the final day of the Games. Today, the person being interviewed by the media is a real person, the current president of the IIHF Luc Tardif. I have three questions ready for him.