According to the plan, the Czech national hockey team under the age of twenty was to fly back to the Czech Republic from Friday night to Saturday, but this did not happen under very bizarre circumstances. The Russian hockey players violated the safety conditions of the transport, and because they wore similar sweatshirts as the Czech players, both camps had to leave the plane.
This is a very comical situation that is hard to believe, but it really isn’t a New Year’s Eve joke. Not only was the hockey championship canceled due to a coronavirus pandemic, but the Czech hockey players also had more difficulty in taking off because they were expelled from the plane due to a Russian expedition.
“It was a very strange situation. We arrived at Calgary Airport about 3 hours in advance. Our players went to buy souvenirs from Canada and some of the players called their families at home. On the contrary, we saw Russian players sitting at the bar. I warned all our boys in advance, let them wear veils throughout their stay at the airport and keep their clearances, “ team manager Otakar Černý begins the story.
“Then we got on a plane and needless to say, at that moment we noticed that some members of the Russian team were obviously not following the hygiene rules and alcohol probably played a role in that. One member of the Russian implementation team even smoked in the tunnel before boarding the plane. “Some fellow passengers then complained about the Russians’ behavior, and the crew therefore had the entire plane evacuated.” describes Černý and emphasizes that the Czech players were completely innocent.
“The flight attendants identified young men in gray Nike sweatshirts as the culprits of the whole situation. These sweatshirts were packed by all players before the start of the championship. Unfortunately, the Czech ones look exactly the same as Russian, with the difference that “Russia.” And practically only for that reason, they threw us in quotation marks in the same bag as the Russians and told us that the entire Czech and Russian expedition could no longer board the plane. “ the team manager explains
But the same conditions did not apply to everyone. “The Finns, who were dressed in a blue and white combination, on the other hand, were allowed to board and depart. Although we explained to Air Canada representatives for about 30 minutes that our players had not broken anything, their decision could not be reversed.”
But a similar situation should not happen again. “Slightly bizarre about the whole situation is that after the plane took off without us, Air Canada representatives apologized to us and at their expense arranged a hotel and a flight to Frankfurt at the same time a day later. They also assured us that we would not fly the same flight as Russian hockey players. “
“We have a clear conscience and I am convinced that our players did not break anything, none of them was even alerted by the flight attendants to the badly worn veil. complications of this year’s Junior World Championships, on the other hand, we are glad that the situation has already been resolved and that we will eventually stay in Canada in quotes only 24 hours longer, ” Black ended his conversation.
TN.cz
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