On Thursday, the CHL begins and from a Swedish point of view, there are two newcomers in the tournament: Rögle and Leksand.  

For the latter, the talk before the CHL debut has been about something other than the game on the ice.

The background is actually already known: Leksand was drawn in the same group as Belarusian Yunost Minsk, who joined the CHL via a wild card.  

Leksand responded with a boycott and announced that they do not intend to play any match on Belarusian soil.

The motivation was, among other things, the fact that the Ice Hockey World Cup has already been moved from the country due to the political situation and that Belarus has been deprived of the World Cup in biathlon.  

“Was about the logistics” 

Eventually the CHL backed down and the organization's board decided to replace Yunost Minsk with the Slovak team Slovan Bratislava.  

- It was about logistics.

When we took into account the problems that exist with traveling in and out of Belarus and the difficulties with visas in the country, we realized that we needed to find another solution, says CHL's CEO Martin Baumann when SVT Sport raises the issue of a press conference. 

But that you previously chose to move the World Cup from Belarus, how much did it affect your decision?  

- No, that was not a reason.

We had the attitude that we could play in Belarus, but as I said, purely logistically, it was not possible for teams to travel to Belarus.  

So it was not a political decision?  

- No, it was not. 

Leksand coach: certainly a political issue  

Since Alexander Lukashenko declared himself the winner of the Belarusian presidential election in August last year, there has been much unrest in the country.

Critics accuse the regime of violating human rights and of using violence against protesters.  

When Leksand's head coach Björn Hellkvist at the same press conference is asked how he views the CHL's actions, he reacts to the fact that “logistics” is used as motivation.  

- For us, the reason was not logistics, but it was a completely political issue.  

Can you develop it?  

- I think you are a journalist and do your job, so I am a hockey coach and stick to it.

What I can say is that Leksands IF made the assessment that we did not want to go to Belarus due to the political situation, says an otherwise reticent Hellkvist.  

Other Swedish teams in the tournament are Frölunda, Växjö and Skellefteå.