The arrest of Russian goaltender Ivan Fedotov, who recently signed an NHL contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, in St. Petersburg and the mysterious treatment are talking at least in North America and Western countries.
May 7th Ivan Fedotov signed a one-year, less than $1 million contract with the Flyers. Before this, he had blocked pucks in the “army team” in Moscow’s TsSKA and led the club to the Gagarin Cup champion with brilliant shots. He was rated as the best goalkeeper in the KHL after the regular season ended.
The shocking events have been clarified afterwards by Match-TV’s correspondent Anna Andronovawho was doing a story about Fedotov that morning.
– When we left St. Petersburg’s Ice Palace and were going to film the interview in the park, men from four cars and one van parked nearby approached us, two of them wearing masks and the rest in civilian clothes.
Finnish roots at Hippupveskar
Fedotov is not just any goalkeeper, but he is at least the hottest and the best puck stopper among the goalkeepers playing in Russia. In addition, the two-meter tall Fedotov appeared in the team of the Russian Olympic Committee, which won Olympic silver in February this year in Beijing.
Fedotov’s mother is half Finnish and his father is Russian. The goalie, who is now at the peak of his career, has hockey roots from the ice hockey school of Moscow’s TsSKA.
The Russian Criminal Code, article number 328, states that “evading military or alternative civilian service” can lead to a maximum of two years in prison.
Usually, Russian athletes do not have any problems when it comes to military service and sports performance. Athletes’ invitations are reviewed by an organization specialized in sports, which is, however, ultimately supervised by the Russian Ministry of Defense and partially even the country’s Ministry of the Interior.
– Fedotov had a dispute in matters related to the army. Ultimately, it all depends on the contacts, the ambition of the goalkeeper and the other side. It is clear that everyone must serve their country. But at the same time, there is an approved procedure in use, which did not suit Fedotov now, the source says.
No matter to the civil hospital
According to the Snob.ru site, after his arrest on July 1, Fedotov was taken to the army’s recruitment office on Zagorodny Prospekt in St. Petersburg, but fell ill just a few hours later and was hospitalized. Despite hopes, the ice hockey player was not taken to a civil hospital because of stomach pains, but to a naval hospital.
Shortly before this event, Fedotov had informed the coaching staff and the club management of CSKA that he wanted to leave Russia. The ice hockey club TsSKA interprets the matter as saying that the ice hockey player “arbitrarily and illegally” terminated his contract.
Fedotov’s lawyer Alexei Ponomarev said a day after the arrest, on Saturday, July 2, that the athlete’s military service was appealed to the court, but the appeal was withdrawn. According to the case manager, her client had never shunned the military – he had simply not been called up.
On July 3, Sunday, case manager Ponomarev told Ria Novosti that the athlete had been taken out of the hospital and presumably sent to Severomorsk, although he had not been able to contact his client. Severomorsk is a closed city and naval base in Russia on the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk region. It is the headquarters of the Russian Northern Fleet.
News agency Tass wrote at the same time that goalkeeper Fedotov will probably serve in Novaya Zemlya, which is a group of small islands belonging to Russia, north of mainland Russia, in the Arctic Ocean.
On Monday, July 4, a representative of the Northern Fleet went public and said that the ice hockey player had arrived at the training unit of the Russian Navy. However, according to the latest media information, Fedotov would currently be in Severodvinsk, which is a port city on the southern shore of the White Sea in northern Russia.
Peskov: Emotional statements are inappropriate
According to the latest information, Fedotov will serve his country in Severodvinsk until September, after which it will be decided where he will move. Sailor training is a specialty of the military, where after a five-month training period, soldiers are invariably sent to serve on warships of the Russian fleet.
– According to the law, we have military service and therefore all statements that appeal to emotions are completely inappropriate. More information about the case can be obtained from the Ministry of Defense, said Peskov.
Minister of Sports of Russia Oleg Matytsin was on the same lines as Peskov.
– Live according to the law, and you’ll be fine, Matytsin rumbled.
– The Ice Hockey Federation is monitoring the situation of Russian national team goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov. We have been in contact with state agencies to find out the details of the case, said Tretjak.
What makes the situation strange in many people’s opinion is simply that none of the CSKA or Russian national team hockey players have taken a stand on an arbitrary act in which the professional career and entire life of a fellow player is suddenly at stake.
– We are aware of various reports and are currently investigating the situation. At this point, we have nothing else to comment on, states the manager of the Philadelphia Flyers Chuck Fletcher.
Fedotov’s arbitrary treatment has immediate implications for the professional careers of Russia’s young hockey prospects for years to come – at least in North America.
Which of the NHL clubs dares to book a young, Russian puck talent in the summer booking events in the top positions, when there is now a risk that the player will possibly be forcibly sent to the army for a couple of years? This summer’s NHL booking event will take place on the 7th and 8th. July 2022 at the Center Bell Arena in Montreal, Canada.