The International Ice Hockey Federation punished Ivan Fedotov and CSKA for a contract

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) sided with the NHL in its high-profile conflict with the strongest KHL club, CSKA. She recognized the contract with the team of the North American League “Philadelphia Flyers” goaltender Ivan Fedotov as valid. He signed an agreement last year, then missed the season due to the fact that he was unexpectedly drafted into the army, and after serving, instead of leaving for the United States, he just as unexpectedly concluded an agreement with the army again. The IIHF suspended Fedotov for four months, and CSKA banned international transfers for a year. Sanctions, if they are not challenged, threaten the Moscow club with some personnel difficulties.

The International Ice Hockey Federation has published statement, in which, “based on evidence provided by the IIHF by interested parties”, recognized the contract with the NHL club of Russian goaltender Ivan Fedotov as valid for the coming season. At the same time, the federation found that Fedotov, having signed an agreement with CSKA for this period and not having received permission from the American team, violated its regulations on international transfers. The IIHF imposed sanctions on both the goalkeeper himself and the Moscow club. Fedotov, for four months starting from September 1, the day of the start of the next KHL championship, is forbidden to take part in official national and international games. And the club for a year – until the end of next summer – to carry out international transfers.

The verdict was a continuation of a high-profile conflict, in the center of which was Ivan Fedotov. The 26-year-old goalkeeper played brilliantly the season before last. In February 2022, he won the silver of the Beijing Olympics, defending the gates of the Russian team, and soon made a huge contribution to the victory of CSKA in the Gagarin Cup. The army team did not hide the fact that they were counting on the goalkeeper, but after the end of the season, he signed a one-year contract with Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Fedotov did not manage to fly to America. In the summer in St. Petersburg, he was detained by employees of the military registration and enlistment office, and the athlete went to serve in the army – in a unit located in the city of Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region. He kept in shape by playing for the Navy team.

After the end of the service, Ivan Fedotov, instead of still leaving for the USA, where he was still expected, signed a contract with CSKA, and without him again won the Gagarin Cup.

Meanwhile, this caused protests from the North American side. It turned out that Philadelphia “postponed” the previously signed contract with Fedotov for the next season, believing that the Russian goalkeeper missed the previous one due to force majeure circumstances beyond his control. And the leaders of the NHL even equated what happened with the complete rejection of the Memorandum of Understanding of 2010: this document, in fact, declared the recognition of both the North American and domestic leagues of each other’s contracts. For a long time it actually worked: there were no serious contradictions between the structures. At the moment, on the CapsFriendly website, which records all contracts of hockey players in the NHL, Ivan Fedotov is listed as a Philadelphia player with a $925,000 contract expiring in 2024, which is “on loan”.

The Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR), commenting on the IIHF decision, noted that it “handed over the received documents to CSKA for study”, and the club “was given a seven-day period to develop a procedure for further actions.” In the event that his management “deems it necessary to challenge the decision”, the FHR will provide him with “full support in the consideration of the case in the disciplinary committee of the International Ice Hockey Federation.” In the KHL, the verdict was called “requiring legal expertise.” The League will issue an official statement “based on the results of the study of documents.”

The IIHF sanctions, if they cannot be challenged, threaten CSKA with not catastrophic, but rather unpleasant problems. The fact is that in this off-season he lost the Swede Adam Reideborn, who moved to the Swiss Bern, his main goalkeeper in the last championship. This circumstance increased the importance for the team of Ivan Fedotov, even despite the missed year by the goalkeeper. The ban on international transfers, theoretically, can somewhat complicate the selection for the army team, reducing the number of options when forming an application. At the moment, it has only one hockey player with legionnaire status – Swedish defender Fredrik Klasson. According to the new KHL regulations, each club has the right to use three foreign players.

Alexey Dospekhov