“There is an instruction, so it must be followed” – Kommersant FM

The government and the State Duma will decide how to deal with the “hockey businessmen.” Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin announced how the president’s order will be carried out. Earlier, Vladimir Putin demanded that measures be taken to stop the practice of luring talented young athletes abroad. According to Mr. Matytsin, it is likely that changes will have to be made to the legislation. Kommersant FM political commentator Dmitry Drize, in turn, fears the emergence of a negative precedent.

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said that he is starting to implement the president’s instructions to protect young athletes who are being taken to the West by dishonest businessmen. Vladimir Putin had hockey players in mind.

It is no secret that we have a considerable number of talents in our country, and in North America there is the National Hockey League, in which, by the way, playing has always been considered the pinnacle of a sports career. So the question of whether these so-called abstract businessmen are so bad is largely debatable. They are not forcibly taking our boys away.

However, we will not be talking about hockey players, or rather, not only about them alone. Actually, in Russian legislation there is no clause stating that citizens who are intoxicated by businessmen, in this case from sports, should not be released from the country. We have a lot of things in our laws, but this is not yet there. Go figure, the vile agent led the citizen astray, or he voluntarily wanted to play abroad.

However, there is an instruction, which means it must be followed. Because they are such businessmen, if you don’t grab them by the hand, they will take our talented players to unfriendly countries.

But what should we do? We won’t give any hints to legislators and officials; they’ll somehow manage it themselves. But the expression “restriction of travel abroad” itself sounds somewhat ominous.

Now sanctions are imposed, in particular, on debtors, malicious alimony recipients and similar categories of citizens. But for talented athletes there are no restrictions, and this is nonsense in its own way.

This is pure grief from the mind, nothing less than the classics. If you’re talented, that means you should stay locked up at home; if you’re mediocre, no one needs you anyway.

Be that as it may, let’s move on. There are different types of agents, for example, there are those who can drug a computer specialist and also transport them abroad, especially since those who want to do so are periodically found.

Meanwhile, in Russia there is a serious shortage of personnel. Moreover, citizens are ready to go to friendly countries, why not? Everyone is learning Chinese. Talents, especially young ones, are needed everywhere.

So, in general, there are some grounds for further concerns. A precedent is being created – first hockey players, then football players, and then they will tell us: “Why do you, dear Russians, need to go abroad? There’s nothing good there. Only dishonest agents and various businessmen. You are sitting at home. We are trying for your own good.”

But let’s not force the issue: the law has not yet been developed, everything is still at the discussion stage. And our country is free, the president said so. We do not hold anyone by force.

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