EXTRAORDINARY Michal Handzuš leaves the management of SZĽH – Topky.sk

“Starting today, I am resigning from the position of a member of the executive committee of the SZĽH and from all its other activities,” he announced, saying that the reason was the case of Slovak players working in the Russian KHL. Hazduš talks about a value issue and therefore cannot imagine further involvement in SZĽH. The Slovak Ice Hockey Association decided last week that it did not ban players who work in Russia and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) from representing. It was decided by the Executive Committee of the SZĽH on Thursday. “The Executive Committee of the SZĽH and the Slovak Ice Hockey Association will always respect international agreements and the current laws of the Slovak Republic. We believe that the players who are currently playing in Russia do not violate both international agreements and our laws. We will therefore rely on the Olympic Charter, according to for which sport should be a tool of unification. Attacks and animosity towards athletes are unacceptable in the same way that any war conflict is unacceptable. For this reason, we will continue to select players for the national team according to their current form and not the league in which they operate,” he said in a statement. Thus, Slovakia did not join the countries that decided to take such a step after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For example, France, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic have approved the ban on representing players working in the KHL. In the current season, seven Slovak hockey players are active in the KHL. Bronze medalists from the Beijing Olympics – goalkeeper Patrik Rybár (Spartak Moscow), defender Michal Čajkovský (Sibir Novosibirsk) and forward Michal Krištof (Admiral Vladivostok). In addition to them, goalkeeper Adam Húska (Torpedo Nizhniy Novgorod), defender Christián Jaroš (Avangard Omsk) and forwards Samuel Buček (Neftechimik Nizhnekamsk) and Adam Liška (Severstaľ Čerepovec).