Nitra refused to release the young men for the needs of the Twenties: Don’t make them hostage! – Športky.sk

PIEŠŤANY – The Slovak national under-20 hockey team has started the final phase of preparations for the World Championships in Canada. Fourteen hockey players, including two goalkeepers, reported to the coaching staff led by head coach Ivan Feneš on Saturday afternoon in Piešťany. The missing nominated players from European locations were due to join later due to their club duties, but …

The overseas part of the expedition will join the camp on December 15 after the Slovaks arrive in Red Deer. The Nitra duo Šimon Nemec and Adam Sýkora did not arrive in Piešťany either, which the club from Zobor did not release, with the addition that they will only let both of them into the national team after they have played an extra-league duel against the Bratislava Slavs.

If they do not back down, there is a risk of sanctions

SZĽH draws attention to the fact that the club from Nitra violates the rules and valid Statutes of SZĽH regarding the release of players for the needs of the national team. This is specifically point 4.1.2 of the Statutes, which clearly states: “The club for which the national hockey player regularly replaces him will release him to the extent that the public prosecutor’s office needs his services.”

The management of HK Nitra, represented by club president Miroslav Kováčik and general manager Tomáš Chrenko, refused to release the duo of youngsters to the national event from December 11, despite a cover letter from the International Hockey Federation sent together with a nomination in which the IIHF asked the clubs for release of players for the needs of junior national teams before the current rules show them.

The team from Zobor wants to deploy both youngsters in a Sunday duel against the Bratislava Slav, which according to point 3.5.5 of the SZĽH Competition Rules will be considered an unjustified start and SZĽH Nitra strongly warns against this step. “Hockey players-representatives are not entitled to start for any ice hockey club or state representation of another state during the period of validity of the individual nomination for the state representation of the Slovak Republic. An excerpt from the Competition Rules is displayed on the Hockey Association’s website.

They became hostages

The possible deployment of young people can thus lead to disciplinary action and subsequent sanctions, and there is a risk that the result will be consumed. “We are very sorry for the management of HK Nitra. They put a pair of their players and skilled junior representatives in a difficult position for which they cannot, and endangered their participation in the top event, which can significantly help them in the process of building a successful career. Not only because the players may be injured in the expected flogged fight with Slovan Bratislava, but also because of the strong demands of the IIHF. Other Slovak clubs were willing to release their players for the needs of the state national team and play Sunday’s matches without them. HK Nitra is trying to set a precedent that cannot be accepted due to the valid rules, “ said the manager of the national team of twenties Tomáš Pšenka for the hockey association.

“Given the situation, we publicly ask the management of HK Nitra to release the players for the needs of the junior national team as soon as possible and not to make them hostage to this situation,” states the union in a call on the site hockeyslovakia.

Juraj Slafkovský was also missing from the meeting on Saturday, but he works in Liige, Finland, in the TPS Turku jersey, and since the SZĽH Statutes and Rules do not apply in Finland, which the Finnish club used and the young Slovak will not be released until 12 December.

He suddenly started by testing

He started Saturday’s meeting with mandatory testing. Upon arrival in Piešťany, each player and a member of the implementation team passed the entrance PCR test and headed for self-isolation in the room until the results were received. In case of a negative conclusion of the examination, the Slovak team can participate in the training process, which starts on Sunday morning.

“On Saturday we had twelve players and two goalkeepers in Piešťany. We still lack Šimon Nemec and Adam Sýkor from Nitra for the players who work at home or in Europe. ” said head coach Ivan Feneš for the hockeyslovakia.sk portal. The missing names will come to the Piešťany bubble in compliance with the strict anti-pandemic measures resulting from the protocol of the International Hockey Federation.

We’ll take it home

At home, half of the Slovak team undergoes two two-phase trainings on Sunday and Monday. He will end the process with the morning unit on Tuesday. Packing for Wednesday’s departure from Munich to Edmonton will follow in the afternoon. “The training will focus primarily on skills to keep the boys at a high pace. We want to complete five training units in full. Although we do not have a complete team at our disposal, as overseas players will not join us until we arrive in Canada, we will definitely take over at home. “ added Feneš.

Players at Saturday’s meeting:

Goalkeepers: Adam Beke, Matej Marinov.

Defenders: Denis Bakala, Oliver Fatul, Simon Groch, Rayen Petrovický, Maxim Štrbák.

Attackers: Dalibor Dvorský, Roman Faith, Maroš Jedlička, Samuel Krajč, Filip Mešár, Richard Nemec, Pavol Štetka.

• The author: © List
• Source: TASR, hockeyslovakia