On October 16, another scandal broke out in the KHL. Information appeared in the media that Slovak striker Michal Kristof left Sochi without permission and left Russia.
There was practically no other information. “Can these rumors be believed?” – passed through my head. Nothing was clear. What happened? And did something happen?
The response appeared a day later, on October 17. The press service of the Sochi team published a statement in which it said that Krishtof left the club without permission.
“In recent days, in conversations with employees of the club’s sports department, Michal Krystof has expressed clear dissatisfaction with what he considers insufficient playing time and his role on the ice. After the match against Vityaz on October 8, the striker also verbally announced that he had received an offer from one of the clubs in Switzerland, while the player’s agent did not contact Sochi with an official request. The club’s deputy general director of hockey operations, Alexei Badyukov, expressed to Krishtof the club’s position, from which it follows that the club is still interested in the services of the forward and has no intention of terminating the current contract.
Michael Krystof
Photo: Yuri Kuzmin, foto.khl.ru
The distribution of playing time between hockey players, as well as its functionality, is the prerogative of the coaching staff, as was also reported to the player. Unfortunately, the player was not ready for a constructive dialogue. The team’s head coach, Sergei Zubov, repeatedly communicated with Krishtof, explaining to the hockey player the reasons for the reduction in his playing time and his absence from the team in certain championship matches. During the entire period of cooperation, the club showed the most respectful attitude towards Michal Krystof; The club always responded and provided assistance to solve everyday and family problems. The club has no financial debts with the player.
On Tuesday, October 15, Michal Krystof participated in communication with schoolchildren within the framework of the “Hockey Lesson” at secondary school No. 18 and then went to the training of the non-playing team. After finishing training, the hockey player left the team without permission. The Club does not accept the ultimatum behavior on the part of the player and intends to act in the legal field in accordance with the rules of the KHL regulations,” the press service of the Sochi Club reported in a statement.
And then it became known that Krishtof, who had a valid contract with Sochi, signed an agreement with the Swiss club Langnau until the end of the 2024/2025 season. This was announced on the club’s official website.
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Furthermore, Langnau reported that the hockey player had already completed his first training session with the new club on the morning of October 17, and was scheduled to play his debut match today, October 18.
What does all this mean? What will happen next and how dangerous is this precedent?
What does the IIHF say?
First of all, of course, Krishtof’s action is surprising. But he is surprised that the 31-year-old striker has not been seen in unpleasant situations until now. Michal was one of the few European hockey players to come to the KHL in the second half of 2022, at a time when this was a pretty bold decision. He spent two years in Russia, in the regular season, 2022/2023 he played for Admiral and since last season he has played for Sochi. Krishtof managed to play 122 games in the KHL, in which he scored 71 (19+52) points with an overall utility rating of “-12”. A pretty good result.
A leak like this is an emergency situation. It would be interesting to hear the player’s opinion, since he had a good reputation in the league. Surely it was not in vain that Krishtof decided to show the height of unprofessionalism and leave the club with a valid contract.
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This does not happen out of nowhere, and the explanations from Sochi raise even more questions. Why did Krishtof go to school with the children, why did he conduct training if he was already planning to leave Russia? Could there be something else that pushed you to make such a decision?
We do not know the details of this case from Michal. We will wait for new information.
In the meantime, many questions remain.
For example: will other legionnaires now begin to leave Russia simply at will?
Some national media have already managed to recall the departure of the KHL from the FHR wing, calling this decision the main reason for this situation. But this argument does not make sense. The departure of the KHL from the FHR, in theory, simply could not affect this situation.
Because?
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Let’s look at the IIHF rules. Clauses 8.1 and 8.2 of the International Ice Hockey Federation statutes regarding international transfers read as follows:
“8.1. All members of national associations, their leagues and clubs must honor all existing and ongoing contracts of players playing for other national member associations or non-member organizations of the IIHF.
8.2. A club wishing to enter into a contract with a player who currently has a professional player contract with a club of another association or member organization that is not a member of the IIHF must, before beginning any negotiations with that player, inform the current club. in writing of your interest and obtain written permission from that club to negotiate with the player,” the rules say.
Translating from the office into Russian, we get the following: It does not matter whether the league is a member of the IIHF or not, respect for contracts must remain. And regardless of whether the league is a member of the IIHF or not, Langnau should have warned Sochi about its interest in Kristof and received permission from the southern club to negotiate with the Slovak.
Michael Krystof
Photo: Dmitry Bondarenko, photo.khl.ru
Former president of the International Hockey Federation, René Fasel, also spoke about the same thing this summer.
“The IIHF has transfer rules. They are in the public domain. Transitions are regulated even with those organizations that are not members of the IIHF. In this case there is also mutual respect for contracts. As you know, the NHL has agreements with different leagues. That’s why I don’t think the KHL will have any problems closing similar deals with the NHL, IIHF or with individual federations and leagues. I am sure that the KHL will respect the players’ contracts,” Fasel said.
Even if the KHL is no longer under the jurisdiction of the International Hockey Federation, the organization must take care of this matter. It will be interesting to see what the IIHF does next regarding this situation. After all, judging by the Sochi statement, Langnau did not warn the southern club about his interest in negotiating with Kristof. That is, he violated IIHF rules.
However, the president of the International Hockey Federation, Luc Tardif, stated that the transfer of the Slovakian forward was approved by the organization.
“The IIHF no longer has anything to do with KHL contracts. As you said, the KHL is no longer a member of the FHR. “The Slovak Ice Hockey Federation approved Michal Kristof’s transfer, so the IIHF also approved it, in accordance with the IIHF international transfer rules,” Tardif said.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. Although the IIHF periodically engages in populism, like any large organization, it generally still adheres to a specific strategy. The federation has rules and everyone must follow them.
Even in the case of Ivan Fedotov and CSKA, the IIHF had every reason to consider the Russian team guilty. And now, in essence, what many feared happened, when the army team did not care about the rules of the organization: because of this, other clubs began to suffer. Now Sochi has replaced Philadelphia. Is this nice? Hardly.
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Of course, there is now no reason to believe that the IIHF will not take the Russian side out of grievances or as revenge. As written above, the organization adheres to its own rules. And now Langnau has violated them. However, this whole situation, like Tardif’s response, is scary.
The KHL disrespected the IIHF, CSKA disrespected the IIHF in the summer and autumn of 2023. The Muscovites took full advantage of the situation with the withdrawal of the FHR, again refusing to accept well-deserved sanctions from the IIHF.
For us, this is another reason to think why proper rules should be observed and why we should not give a damn about other representatives of the same world as us. No matter what slogans they use now, we must understand that we are still living in the same world. That’s why adults are adults: to solve problems like adults.
Should we fear the departure of the legionnaires?
Unfortunately, it should be noted that Kryshtof’s departure could set a serious precedent.
Before, there were already prerequisites for a similar situation. For example, when defender Artem Duda left Russia on a two-year contract with CSKA and tried to play at the University of Maine. Then the National Collegiate Athletic Association respected the Russian side and did not allow the hockey player.
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Philadelphia was able to reach an agreement with SKA and acquired Matvey Michkov. Like Ivan Fedotov.
But these are all North American cases, although, of course, we should create an agreement with the NHL and other North American leagues to regulate the legal aspects of the contracts. Additionally, it is necessary to reach an agreement directly with the IIHF; It now turns out that the KHL has no ties to the organization. As the media notes, no negotiations took place. And this is dangerous mainly for Russian clubs.
What to do if legionaries and even national youth begin to look in another direction: towards Europe?
It seems the only sensible solution would be to start moving towards it ourselves. Accept that the NHL’s tactics really work and also start negotiations with other leagues. In other words, the KHL should enter into agreements with European leagues so that controversial situations can be directly discussed and even avoided.
Why does the European side need this? Well, while hockey players can leave Russia to go to other leagues, players from other leagues have the opportunity to move to Russia. It’s simple. This is a mutual process. Therefore, discussions and an agreement on its regulation will be useful for all parties.
And, of course, we cannot reject foreign players. Most foreign hockey players are real professionals who help our young people learn new things and improve their level. There’s no way we can shut down now. Otherwise, our hockey, and not only that, will come to an end. You just need to learn to talk, argue and negotiate. Calm, peaceful, without aggression.
It remains to be seen what will come of this whole situation. I would like to hope for the prudence of the IIHF; After all, the organization has already demonstrated that it respects its own statutes.
And the situation with Krishtof – almost a mirror of that of Fedotov – reminds us once again that under no circumstances, under any circumstances, should we lose respect. Even an opponent. One day it will return, like now.
