The Russian Hockey Federation is not sure about the legality of the return of Ivan Fedotov to CSKA

In the story of the scandalous return of goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov to CSKA on Monday, there was an interesting twist. The Russian Hockey Federation (FHR), which, based on earlier statements made by the CSKA leadership, did not object to the registration of the player’s contract by the Continental Hockey League (KHL), despite the fact that the National Hockey League (NHL) Philadelphia Flyers club considers Fedotov associated with agreement, called the situation “ambiguous, requiring detailed analysis and legal resolution.” At the same time, the FHR even questioned Fedotov’s participation in the KHL championship.

On Monday, the FHR published on its official website statementregarding the contract of goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov, whose two-year agreement with CSKA was registered by the KHL over the weekend. “The Russian Hockey Federation assesses the situation as ambiguous, requiring detailed analysis and legal resolution, considers it necessary to obtain official information from the NHL on Fedotov’s contractual status and only after consultations with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) make a decision on the possibility of the hockey player’s participation in the KHL championship,”— says in the statement.

“The FHR, as a member of the IIHF, will insist on strict adherence to the KHL’s rules for international transfers of the IIHF, since violation of the rules and regulations can lead to negative consequences for Russian hockey,” the federation noted.

The statement of the FHR can be called unexpected, since on Sunday the president of CSKA, Igor Esmantovich, made it clear that the actions of the army and the KHL were agreed with the federation. “The KHL did everything professionally and clearly. I would also like to express my gratitude to the FHR, since we all worked together in this situation,” said Mr. Esmantovich “Match TV”.

Recallthat Ivan Fedotov in the spring of 2022 signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers NHL club, but in July he was detained in St. Petersburg for evading military service and was soon sent to a military unit. At the end of his military service, the goalkeeper did not go to the United States, instead signing a contract with CSKA, for which he played until the end of the 2021/22 season. This caused dissatisfaction with Philadelphia and the NHL leadership, who believe that the contract of the American team with the Russian was not terminated, but was only “frozen”. So, he is bound by obligations and CSKA could not sign an agreement with him. According to the Russian side, there is no contract, which means that Fedotov’s signing is legal. In addition, the Memorandum of Understanding between the KHL and the NHL, which was in force before the events in Ukraine, prevented such conflicts, lost force initiated by the North American League.

The FHR statement further confuses the situation. It is not surprising that it is called “ambiguous”. Key to the federation’s statement is that it “will insist on the KHL’s strict adherence to the IIHF international transfer rules.”

The problem is that the “IIHF International Transfer Regulations” (its Russian version is published on the FHR website) does not clarify (.pdf).

On the one hand, clause 8.1 of the regulations states that “all national associations that are members of the IIHF, their leagues and clubs must recognize all existing and valid contracts of players playing in organizations that are or are not members of the IIHF (the NHL is not part of an international federation.— “b”)”. And clause 9.5(a) (included in the section governing transfers in which one of the parties is an NHL or American Hockey League team) states that “if a player wishes to return to his home national association that is a member of the IIHF, then that national association must send a transfer request to the national IIHF member association in whose country the club is located.” That is, in this case, to the US Ice Hockey Federation.

On the other hand, the very fact that Fedotov has a valid contract with Philadelphia is at least controversial. The agreement signed by the player for the 2023/24 season does not exist in nature, which Igor Esmantovich spoke about. How competent was the freezing of the agreement and the postponement of its validity for the next season by the decision of the NHL, is not clear.

The indicated inconsistency of the situation allowed CSKA and the KHL not to notify the IIHF at all in this story, which its head Luc Tardif confirmed in response to a corresponding request “RIA News”. “We have not received any complaints about this,” he said, but expressed his willingness to assist in resolving the dispute. But here the legitimacy of the intervention of the IIHF itself may already be in question. After all, clause 2.1 of the “International Transfer Regulations” states that “any player who wishes to take part in a hockey competition held under the jurisdiction of a national association that is not his current national association is obliged to arrange a transfer (through the appropriate IIHF online system.— “b”)”. It follows from this that if the hockey player remains in the jurisdiction of the same federation, then a transfer is not required simply because the transfer is not international. And here again the fork turns out. CSKA may point out that Fedotov, as he was in the jurisdiction of the FHR, remained. “Philadelphia” can insist that there was a transition from the jurisdiction of the US Hockey Federation to the jurisdiction of the FHR.

A press conference is scheduled for July 17 with the participation of Igor Esmantovich, CSKA head coach Sergei Fedorov and Ivan Fedotov himself. It is possible that in the time remaining before her, the situation around the goalkeeper may change more than once.

Alexander Petrov