The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine also has an impact on the games of the North American ice hockey professional league NHL in Europe.
The Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks will play two regular-season games on October 7 and 8 at Prague’s O2 Arena, their first games outside of North America since the coronavirus pandemic began. However, according to a decision by the Czech Foreign Ministry, the Russian players of the teams are not allowed to enter the country, as the AP news agency reported on Thursday.
But it doesn’t affect many players. Nashville has Russian striker Yakov Trenin and San Jose have Alexander Barabanov in their squad and Yevgeny Svechnikov, who is in training camp on a tryout contract.
Letter to the NHL
“We can confirm that the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a letter to the NHL to indicate that the Czech Republic or any other state in the Schengen (visa-free) zone is not currently issuing visas to Russian players to enter our territory should,” Deputy Foreign Secretary Martin Smolek said in a statement.
The ministry said a ban on Russian athletes at sporting events in European Union countries had also been recommended by EU sports ministers. The Czech Republic was one of the first EU countries to stop issuing visas to Russian nationals after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.