Ice hockey | Every Russian who wants to participate in international games should declare that they are against the war, says Kummola

International president of the ice hockey confederation IIHF Luc Tardif pointed out on Tuesday when visiting Finland that the possible return of Russia and Belarus to the international hockey arenas is not dependent on moral reasons.

“Morality is not part of our decisions. As a person I have my own ideas about the situation, but as the IIHF president I have to make decisions from a different angle, but we don’t want to hide either. The most important thing is safety,” Tardif said at the press conference.

Tardif’s comments shocked Finland. For example Alexander Stubb tweeted that he is not at all convinced by the chairman’s words.

Finland long-time president of the Ice Hockey Federation and former vice-president of the IIHF Kalervo Kummola says that he sat down with Tardif after the infamous press conference and discussed the Russia issue.

“I sat for three hours with him, and yes, his line is quite clear. It’s quite clear that nothing will happen here as long as the war is going on,” says Kummola based on the meeting with Tardif.

“At the briefing, I think he (Tardif) had a few bad choices of words. Using the word morality was a pretty bad bet.”

According to Kummola, the big uproar caused by Tardif’s speeches about Russia was also a matter of misunderstanding.

“His English is not terribly good. He said he hoped that Russia and Belarus would return as soon as possible, but that would mean that the war would be over. That’s how it should have been said, ‘I hope the war ends so that these countries can return,'” Kummola states.

“After all, these issues are discussed in Congress, so there was probably something in it that he didn’t want to express his own opinions too strongly.”

Tardiff also revealed during his visit to Finland that the former president and honorary president of the IIHF, Vladimir Putin lapped up Rene Fasel is still behind the scenes trying to influence the IIHF’s decision-making.

“It’s not news to anyone. It’s quite clear. Fasel may have a little influence on some few countries, but not the majority in any case,” says Kummola.

The Kummola has very much wondered how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recently been so sympathetic to the possible return of Russian athletes to international sports fields, even though the country is still continuing its brutal attack in Ukraine.

“They have said something that athletes who have not supported the war could enter the Games. I think that’s a rather vague statement,” says Kummola about the IOC.

Kummola has a much more radical proposal.

“It should be that way, and this is what I have already suggested going forward, that every Russian who wants to participate in international games should write on a piece of paper that ‘I am against war.’ Then the ball would be in the hands of the athletes,” says Kummola.