“Why risk it?”: How did Russia react to the KHL match “Barys” - “Metallurg” in Nur-Sultan

Recent events in Kazakhstan almost led to the cancellation of the KHL regular championship match between the local Barys and Magnitogorsk Metallurg.

According to the calendar, the game was to take place on January 5 at 16:30 Moscow time in Nur-Sultan at the Barys-Arena stadium.

However, just a few hours before the starting siren, the country's President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev signed a decree on the introduction of a state of emergency in the capital from January 5 to 19 to "ensure public safety, restore law and order, and protect the rights and freedoms of citizens."

After that, the holding of the meeting was called into question.

Until the last moment it was not clear whether the teams would go out on the ice.

Only at 14:30 Moscow time, a statement was published on the official website of the KHL, in which it was reported that the audience would not be able to enter the stands.

Barys itself was unable to notify hockey fans due to problems with the Internet in the country.

“The League asks the fans from Nur-Sultan and those who came to the capital of Kazakhstan to support Metallurg to understand the situation and not leave their homes and places of stay.

All funds spent on tickets will be refunded, information on the refund mechanism will be published additionally on the Barys website, ”the KHL noted.

A little later, the league reported that the decision not to postpone the match was made after consultations with the state authorities of Kazakhstan and the clubs.

It was noted that representatives of the host country guaranteed the safety of teams and players.

In "Metallurg" they were forced to obey and went to the arena.

As a result, the confrontation ended with a strong-willed victory of the hosts with a score of 3: 2.

Magnitogorsk twice were in the lead, but were defeated.

However, after the final siren, hockey faded into the background.

Fans watched whether Magnitka would be able to fly out of the country, engulfed in a wave of protests and riots, given the cancellation of regular flights.

Unfortunately, there were some problems.

Immediately after the game, Metallurg arrived at the Nur-Sultan airport together with the refereeing team.

The delegation took their seats on board, but failed to set off promptly - the pilots did not receive permission to take off.

After a while, the car still began to climb.

But in the air, people continued to follow the plane.

On the Flightradar24 portal, the flight took the second place in terms of attention riveted to it, almost two thousand people watched the flight live.

And only at night the board landed in Magnitorsk.

“We are at home with the team.

Of course, it was a difficult trip.

Now we flew to Russia, our team is doing well.

Thanks to everyone who worried about us ", - quotes the words of the head coach Ilya Vorobyov" Championship ".

The club did not hide their emotions and harshly criticized the league for the decision to hold the match.

Vice-President Sergei Laskov was the first to speak.

According to him, a clause of the KHL regulations was violated, which says about the prohibition of matches in regions where a state of emergency has been introduced.

“On what basis is there a double attitude in the league?

Someone can transfer games with a covid, and the main point says that in an emergency, all matches should be canceled.

Who guaranteed to whom the safe holding of the meeting ... "Barys", for its part, provided escort to the airport - there are no questions for them.

And what to do with the psychology of the players?

The league does not give a damn about anything, ”the TASS functionary is quoted as saying.

Soon, the club's press service issued a detailed statement on the situation.

It says, in particular, that on the morning of January 5, the Internet in Nur-Sultan was unstable, but the team went out to work in a "normal mode".

“Before leaving for the match, we learned that a state of emergency was introduced in Nur-Sultan.

Naturally, we immediately tried to contact the leadership of the league, which was not so easy to do.

The connection was still unstable, the Internet practically didn’t work, the calls went through every other time.

We managed to get through: the league invited the team to stay at the hotel until more information is received - for an indefinite time, "Metallurg noted.

As a result, the team decided to go to Barys-Arena, in order to avoid being in the city center, where riots could start, as well as to get more detailed information about the situation from the management of the arena and Barys. The club insists that the KHL had to postpone the confrontation in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 56 of the sports regulations of the Continental Hockey League. It says: "In regions where a curfew or a state of emergency has been declared, matches are prohibited." However, the league still gave the order to go on the ice, although it banned the fans from entering the stadium.

The club also informed about the problems that the delegation faced on the way back.

According to Metallurg, the technical services of the airport did not prepare the plane properly.

“Regular flights were canceled altogether, so the club went to meet the KHL and took on board the referee team who worked for the match, which risked getting stuck in Kazakhstan,” the statement says.

At the same time, in the camp of the guests, no claims arose directly against "Barys".

On the contrary, Laskov thanked the receiving party, which provided the team with transport and escort.

“We were at the Nur-Sultan airport at 23:30 local time (20:30 Moscow time -

). We landed in Magnitogorsk almost six hours later, and the referee was flying with us. Although some of them should have been left in Kazakhstan. They waited a long time for their plane, which was initially driven to the parking lot. But overall, everything was fine. Barys proved to be excellent in this situation. We did not experience any problems at the airport, as well as in the city itself. We saw detachments of special services, but without excesses. It was very difficult in terms of the lack of any connection, the Internet. We were guided only by what we saw with our own eyes, ”quotes the vice-president of“ R-Sport ”.

The KHL has not yet responded to harsh criticism, but it is obvious that the conflict can develop.

Some experts have already taken the side of Metallurg and accused the league of violating the rules.

For example, the former head coach of the Russian national team Vladimir Plyushchev spoke in this vein.

“If there is a clause in the regulations concerning a state of emergency, then holding a match was completely inappropriate, especially since the situation there is really acute.

And it affects the psychology of hockey players and the atmosphere in general.

It was possible to postpone this meeting - the KHL transferred other games, taking into account the pandemic.

Honestly, it is not clear to me whether the KHL is acting according to the laws, or according to concepts, ”the expert said in an interview with Gazeta.Ru.

He was supported by two-time Olympic champion Alexander Kozhevnikov.

According to him, in the current situation, the fault lies entirely with the league.

“Why risk it?

Of course, the game had to be rescheduled.

The situation is not easy.

I do not understand why it was necessary to do this.

The KHL should take this situation into account.

Don't play at home.

Let Barys play away now, for example.

So everyone will be calmer, "- quotes Kozhevnikov" Sport-Express ".

But the former Barys mentor Vladimir Krikunov took a much more neutral position.

In his opinion, the situation in the capital of Kazakhstan as a whole should be calm, since the main centers of unrest are in other cities, and nothing should prevent the team from competing for getting into the Gagarin Cup.

The next four matches "Barys" will play away, and the home match of the Kazakhstani club with "Ak Bars" scheduled for January 17 will take place on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The KHL announced the corresponding decision on the morning of January 6.

It is noted that the option of holding the match in Kazan is being considered, but all issues "are under discussion with interested parties."