"High authority in the hockey community": Morozov appointed to the post of president of the KHL

On Friday at an extraordinary absentee meeting of the board of directors of the Continental Hockey League (KHL), a new president was elected. The head of the organization by unanimous decision was appointed a member of the board of directors of the Omsk Avangard and the eminent Russian striker Alexei Morozov in the recent past.

“He has a huge amount of work ahead, at the same time the future path is clearly defined by our development strategy, and the League will continue to follow it steadily. I wish Alexei Alekseevich success in his new post. He begins a new period in his career and, I am sure, will again be the winner. For this, he has all the necessary qualities, ”said a statement by the chairman of the board of directors of the KHL Gennady Timchenko.

The Morozov contract is designed for four years. In his new post, he replaced Dmitry Chernyshenko, who headed the KHL since November 2014. The castling is due to the fact that in January of this year, the former Chernyshenko was appointed deputy chairman of the government of the Russian Federation, in connection with which he was forced to leave the chair of the head of the league. His responsibilities included issues of the digital economy and innovation, communications and the media, as well as culture, tourism and sports.

Timchenko expressed gratitude to Chernyshenko for the work done and expressed confidence that thanks to his wealth of experience he will be able to succeed in his new post.

“Under his leadership, the league has reached a new level, progressively developing according to the developed strategy, improving in all directions - from increasing investment attractiveness, the level of spectator interest and sportsmanship of players to the introduction of the latest technologies,” added Timchenko.

In turn, Chernyshenko noted the positive trends in the development of the KHL that have occurred over the past five years. In particular, the league has become more stable in terms of finances, under its control are the problems of doping and refereeing, sports results and spectator interest have increased.

“I was a non-hockey man, they justly criticized me for this. From the position of vice premier in charge of sports, we will continue to oversee our hockey family. Hockey is the number one sport in Russia, and its renaissance will continue. We have a lot of thoughts about its development, ”the Championship quotes Chernyshenko.

Alexei Morozov, on the contrary, spent his entire conscious life in hockey. During his professional career, the right-handed striker played on both sides of the ocean, won the silver of the Olympics in Nagano and the gold of two world championships, three times became the champion of Russia and twice won the Gagarin Cup. In addition, he is still the KHL champion in the number of goals scored in one match - on November 21, 2008, he issued a pentric-trick to the Barys goal.

Morozov proved himself not only as a hockey player, but also as a functionary. In June 2015, he became the managing director of the Youth Hockey League (and will remain until the appointment of a new leader), and a month later - a member of the KHL board. Since 2016, he was invited to the post of president of the revived “Wings of the Soviets”, currently playing in the MHL championship. This post will remain with him, but he will be forced to leave the Avangard board of directors, which he joined in May 2018 at the invitation of its chairman Alexander Krylov and club president Maxim Sushinsky.

“Strategy adopted and approved by the board of directors”

It is too early to judge what changes await the KHL in the future, however Morozov himself has already talked about some areas of his new activity. In particular, we are talking about expanding the league at the expense of Europe and Asia, as well as establishing a dialogue with the National Hockey League.

“As for the topic with the NHL, you need to talk to them, let me think about it. We already have a joint meeting in our plans. While they refuse to participate in the Olympic Games. Champions League? We will work on this issue, we have a tight schedule, pauses for Eurotours. There are many difficulties, everything needs to be worked out, ”said Morozov.

Another hot topic for the league is the salary ceiling. The newly-minted president emphasized that he should be tough and stay at the same level - 900 million rubles. In addition, the organization does not abandon plans to introduce a lower wage limit approved by the board of directors in September last year.

“This will equalize the chances between the clubs and attract fans to the stands. Everyone should be on an equal footing, no mitigation. The strategy has been adopted and approved by the board of directors, ”Morozov explained.

In addition, work will continue on legalizing the rental of hockey players, which is currently hidden.

“Why do something under the table when you can legalize it. Young children will be able to play in another club, and then return to the team that raised them. We decided that this would benefit the league, ”Morozov added.

“He knows how hockey economy works”

After Chernyshenko became part of the Russian government, it was assumed that Timchenko, vice president of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHR) Roman Rotenberg, head of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Rene Fazel, as well as several other candidates, were expected to take his place. having more modest managerial experience. Nevertheless, Morozov’s appointment was positively received in Russia.

Russian Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin is confident that the new president of the league will become a worthy successor to Chernyshenko.

“Alexey Morozov has high authority in the hockey community, a deep understanding of hockey processes and has established himself as the head of the MHL,” said Matytsin.

A similar point of view is shared by the president of the FHR, Vladislav Tretyak. He hopes that after updating the KHL leadership, the ties between the two organizations will become even stronger.

“I hope our cooperation will be good in the future to develop our hockey, to reduce the outflow of young players, to work together to promote our hockey brand, the national team. We are all in the same boat, ”Tretyak TASS quotes.

According to Rotenberg, Russian hockey faces many important tasks that the federation and the league will have to solve together. First of all, we are talking about the development of children's and youth sports, as well as an increase in the number of highly qualified trainers.

“We need to do everything for the development of young players in clubs and the national team system, where they receive international practice that promotes growth and skill. Only by working together, with the debugged interaction of the league, federation, clubs and the national team system of Russia, can we achieve the desired results, ”said Rotenberg.

Member of the KHL board of directors Valery Kamensky noted that Morozov has already established himself as a functionary from a positive point of view, and therefore enjoys great prestige in Russian hockey.

“He really showed himself well during his time at the MHL. Will he be able to change key areas? We will work together on this, we will help him, ”Sport24 quotes Kamensky.

KHL team leaders were also pleased with the changes. Kirill Fastovsky, Director General of Novosibirsk Siberia, said that Morozov was a worthy candidate for this post and expressed the hope that the league would continue to adhere to the chosen strategy.

“I have known Morozov for a long time. I knew him before as an upscale, illustrious hockey player. And now I see in him a thoughtful and active functionary. I am glad that he was able to cross this line between a hockey player and a person who sees our sport from a completely different perspective. Believe me, not many athletes have given such a transformation, ”said Fastovsky.

In turn, the general manager of Moscow “Spartak” Alexei Zhamnov assured that members of the board of directors are ready to help the newly-made head of the league.

“I think that in this high position he will succeed. The main thing is that Alexey has ambitions, he perfectly understands the tasks that need to be addressed. Not the last factor among those who speak for him is a great authority in the hockey world. The game in the KHL, NHL - he knows how the hockey economy works. Let's wait for his first steps, ”commented on the appointment of Morozov Zhamnov.