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The transfer request of the 30-year-old goalkeeper to Kontinental Hockey League club Khabarovsk Amur was received by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) transfer system LHF this week. The transfer was rejected by the LHF on Thursday.
The LHF reminds that the changes made on April 30 in the Latvian Sports Law foresee a ban on representing national teams for those players, coaches and staff who participate in Russian and Belarusian sports leagues.
Now the transfer of Kalniņš has come under the supervision of the IIHF, which will most likely approve it.
“We have received a request for a transfer, which we rejected within the specified time. It had to be done within seven days. We also added an explanation why we rejected it.
At this point, it is likely that the Russian Hockey Federation will appeal our decision to the IIHF. The IIHF should then assess the reason for the refusal and its legitimacy. Then the question will follow, whether our actions will be evaluated or punished.
A player’s status will also be looked at by the IIHF. They may decide that we have not acted according to the rules and rejected the transfer without reason. They can’t force us to approve the transfer, but theoretically they can do it themselves,” Plėžės said in a conversation with TVNET.
“There has never been such a precedent until now. It is the IIHF, without even classifying the countries. No federation has ever rejected any transition outside the IIHF rules. That is why we are currently talking in hypotheses. Work will have to be invested to arrive at a solution. Everything is in the hands of the IIHF. We do our work we did it, we will not change the decision.”
The mower refused to predict how long the process around Kalniņš’s rejected transfer could be, but he admitted that it may not be resolved quickly.
The LHF has not yet received the request of Vladivostok “Admiral” club for the transfer of Nikolay Yeliseyev. If one is received, it will also be rejected by the LHF.
The mower also admitted that lately he often receives questions about whether the LHF has the right to cancel the ice hockey player’s license of a player who signs a contract in Russia or Belarus.
It turns out that professionals do not have any LHF licenses at all, so there is no object to cancel.
“The LHF licenses only those players who participate in the championships we organize. Professional athletes are not licensed. We have nothing to take away from them to limit their work opportunities in a particular country. Yes, there are coaches’ certificates, but the players have nothing. Theoretically, even an amateur , who has never trained or played anywhere, can sign a professional contract.”
The general secretary of the LHF also expressed a firm position in the conversation that neither Kalniņš nor Yeliseev will ever find a place in the pool of candidates for the Latvian national team. Even if none of them will play in Russia anyway.
Both Kalniņš and striker Yeliiseev, who wants to represent Vladivostok Admiral coached by Leonid Tambiev, have announced that they will play in the KHL next season.
On the other hand, striker Miks Indrašis announced after almost a week of silence that he will not continue his career in Russia.
