Expert: “Jokerit” causes a lot of problems. I do not know how long KHL intends to suffer

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Well-known Russian hockey expert and the Continental Hockey League (KHL) Leonid Waisfeld, a commentator on the television channel, commented on the Jokerit Club in Helsinki, which has been the subject of a number of recent incidents.

It has already been reported that the match between Jokerit and Ak Bars in Kazan, represented by Jānis Kalniņš, was not held on Friday, as the team of the Finnish capital recently met with Neftekhimik in Nizhny Novgorod, where several hockey players were found to be infected with Covid-19. Although all the hockey players of the Finnish club have passed the tests again and all the results have been negative according to the local legislation, the Jokerit representatives will have to spend two weeks in self-isolation, thus postponing the next five games with the Helsinki club.

“The most unpleasant thing is that the decision to cancel matches is not made by the league, but by the club itself,” the expert points out. “I don’t know how long KHL plans to suffer, but there are a lot of problems with Jokerit.”

It is also reported that Jokerit decided not to go to the first game of the championship against Minsk Dinamo. Earlier, several local journalists called on the team not to fly to Minsk, where protests against the falsification of election results have been going on for almost a month. The Jokerit was also pressured by a fan club, whose representatives have indicated that they will ignore the Helsinki team’s home matches if the team still goes to Belarus. The league acted in accordance with the disciplinary rules and awarded Jokerit a technical loss.

“Initially, they invoke political reasons and do not come to the game, but then they quarantine themselves and decide how many games they should postpone,” the expert said condemningly.

There is another case involving the Finnish club, namely Jokerit, at a time when the global coronavirus pandemic was gaining momentum, being one of the first to take part in the 2019/2020 season playoffs, which were suspended and not played until galam. Later, teams from the Finnish capital were followed by other units, including Nursultan’s Barys and Kazan’s Ak Bars.

“Already in the spring, I did not like the form in which Jokerit announced its decision to withdraw from the Gagarin Cup,” Waisfelds said. “It was possible to contact KHL management, explain the situation, discuss and reflect on everything. Instead, the club simply put the league in front of the fact – we don’t play anymore, but you do what you want! Now it’s basically the same thing. But it must not behave. You have to think not only about yourself, but also about your opponents and the organization in which you play. ”

Should Jokerit be awarded technical damages for canceled matches? No, here I am for the games to take place, ”says the expert. “Furthermore, if the Eurotour games are canceled, it will be possible to do so painlessly. But the thing is different – the Finnish club should not behave like that! ”

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