The International Ice Hockey Federation has left the balancing act related to the Russia issue to its president, writes Lassi Kuisma from Tampere.
Matti Nurminen gave the best player of the match award to Marko Anttila in last year’s World Cup. PASI LEISMA
Matti Nurminen, who started as secretary general of the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF last summer, was a guest in Tampere on Monday at a seminar of the Ice Hockey Journalists Association.
Nurminen gave a speech at the event, which also included a semi-official questionnaire. Nurminen told about the activities of the IIHF and the direction in which he wants to take the organization. However, he drew a sharp line on one thing.
– I don’t answer political questions, Nurminen said.
Politics in this case obviously meant that Nurminen did not want to answer any question related to the relations between Russia and the IIHF. Namely, Nurmi was asked on what schedule Russia is returning to international hockey.
– Next question, please. It is a political issue, Nurminen said.
As general secretary, Nurminen’s job is to manage operational activities, that is, in Finnish, to run the daily life of the boutique. In that sense, refusing to answer questions about Russia is possible in principle, but in practice, it is quite unusual that a Finnish boss in a significant position refuses to answer even practical questions that did not involve anything dramatic.
The IIHF has left the Russia questions entirely to the French chairman Luc Tardif, who, for his title, is of course more responsible for the big decisions.
Luc Tardif visited Finland in January. Jenni Gästgivar
In practice, at the moment, Tardif’s job is to try to keep Russia, Belarus and the Western countries somewhat satisfied and to take the blows from both sides. He gets paid to be criticized so no one else has to. The model is familiar from the big North American sports leagues, such as the NHL, where commissioner Gary Bettman raises a huge salary for being the hated man, so that the owners of the clubs maintain their clean reputation.
Tardif made a fuss in January when he was visiting Finland at the press conference for the World Cup. The chairman announced that moral considerations are not part of the IIHF’s decision-making and that the organization does not intend to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
The IIHF’s line is that if it chooses to condemn Russia’s brutal war of aggression, it would find itself in an endless quagmire, where a position should also be taken on other conflicts in the world. For example, such big hockey countries as China, Taiwan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. These countries were mentioned by Tardif MTV Sports in the interview during the same visit.
Tardif tries by all means to balance so that he can keep Russia and the Western countries satisfied at the same time, so that when Russia and Belarus someday possibly return to international hockey, cooperation would be possible.
While visiting Finland, Tardif said this:
– I hope – and quote the whole sentence – that Russia and Belarus will come back as quickly as possible, because that means the war is over.
In March, the comments of the Russian Sport-Express according to were similar, but with small filings. He did not mention the word war.
– I hope that Belarus and Russia will return as soon as possible. That would mean that the conditions for reunification are there. It also means that we are able to guarantee safety, Tardif told Sport-Express.