According to Neftehimik’s Finnish watchman Frans Tuohimaa, the club’s foreign players are in a stalemate and are trying to find ways to get out of Russia. Some of the Finnish players plan to continue playing in the KHL playoffs.
The EU has imposed sanctions on Russia: it announced a ban on Russian aircraft flying in its airspace. Some Russian banks will be excluded from the international Swift payment system.
Some states have urged their citizens to leave Russia. Italy, for example, temporarily recommended visiting citizens to return to Italy. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has recommended avoiding all movement in Russia.
Representing the KHL Society Neftehimik Nizhnekamsk Frans Tuohimaa comments to Urheilu that he is currently finding out with other foreigners playing with him how to get out of the country quickly.
– Now there is quite a lot of circus going on for every foreign player who is active here. We are all in a stalemate, here it is. Everyone thinks first and foremost that you should get out, but Tuohimaa tells Urheil by phone how to try to find out.
Tuohimaa was part of the Finnish Olympic team, which won gold at the Beijing Olympics.
Tuohimaa did not have time to tell Sportla about the situation in more detail, because he wanted to continue the investigation as soon as possible.
Nizhnekamsk is located about a thousand kilometers east of Moscow. Tuefimaa’s national team Neftehimik will start the playoffs on Tuesday as a guest of Traktor Chelyabinsk. Chelyabinsk is located about 700 kilometers east of Nizhnekamsk. A Finnish striker plays in the tractor team Teemu Pulkkinen.
However, not all Finns are leaving Russia.
For example, Salavat Yulev Ufa’s head coach Tomi Lämsä answered the phone busy in the middle of the meetings. Ufa will start their playoffs against Siberia on Wednesday.
– We are here and work is done here normally, Lämsä comments to .
The Ufa team includes three Finnish players who have been on the Beijing Olympic team: Markus Granlund, Sakari Manninen and Teemu Hartikainen.
Helsinki Jokers withdrew from the KHL playoffs on Friday, and Latvian Dinamo Riga from the entire KHL on Sunday. Many sports federations said they would exclude Russia from their competitions. On Monday, the Finnish Hockey Association also demanded the exclusion of Russia and Belarus from the World Hockey Championships, which will be played in Tampere and Helsinki in the spring.
The players’ association is working to help
Executive Director of the Hockey Players Association Risto Kauppinen says that Finns playing in KHL have also been contacted by the players’ association. According to Kauppinen, however, the players have not asked the players’ association for help in getting out of Russia.
– We have not received this type of request for assistance.
The players’ association has helped players to get in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among others. According to Kauppinen, the association helps Finnish hockey players with the resources it has at its disposal.
– After all, the situation in Ukraine is terrible, all support for their struggle to defend their own country. There are reflection effects on so many things. But it is not our role to take a position that work in Russia must be stopped and come back to Finland, Kauppinen says.