Mikhail Vorobyov may not play hockey at all next season.
Mihail Vorobjov played last season in SKA St. Petersburg with 7+20=27. PDO
Russian ice hockey player Mikhail Vorobyov, 25, admitted in court that he was guilty of buying a fake military passport. The trial was held in Ufa, Russia, where Vorobyov was heard about the case.
According to the Russian media, the attacker who plays for SKA Petersburg said that three years ago he had bribed a former police officer. In return, the police gave a visa to get out of the country to the NHL.
A year later, the puck promise turned to the same person to buy a fake military passport and a permanent residence permit in Ufa. Vorobjov had paid 200,000 rubles, or about 3,000 euros, to the broker for the services.
Now Vorobyov is ready to do military service in order to mitigate the punishments that await him. A hockey player faces 7–12 years in prison and a fine of hundreds of thousands of euros.
– I regret my actions and I am ready to join the army. I didn’t realize at the time that I was doing it illegally, Vorobyov said in court, according to RIA Novosti.
The next court case will be continued at the beginning of September. With Vorobov too Vladislav Lukin and Anvar Suleimanov accused of similar acts. Vorobjov is the only high-profile hockey player of the trio.
He was drafted to the NHL in 2015 in the fourth round. The NHL gates never opened, so Vorobjov has spent the last two seasons in the KHL. In 2018–20, the Russian played a total of 35 games for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.
Young Russian ice hockey players have made headlines this summer for evading the country’s army. For example, the goalie promise that was going to the NHL Ivan Fedotov was arrested and taken to the army to do military service.
Sources: Sportbox.ru, Sport24.ru