Russians in Prague? We don’t want them all over Schengen! The Czechs sent a letter to the heads of the NHL – Pravda

They took a clear stance. In less than a month (October 7-8), an NHL double match between the San José Sharks and the Nashville Predators will take place in Prague. Nothing unusual, because the elite overseas competition has been presented in Europe for several years. Photo: USA TODAY Network / ddp USA / Profimedia In which line-ups will San Jose and Nashville finally appear in Prague? But the problem is somewhere else. In the Russian question. The legendary Czech goalkeeper Dominik Hašek recently boasted on one of the social networks that he is working to ensure that both teams arrive in Prague without Russian players. “I am happy. Things are starting to move. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic asked me for the names of Russian players in the NHL who could play in Prague. And at the same time for contact with the NHL management. There is a lot of work ahead of us, but things are already moving ,” he wrote. The holder of the Vezina trophy was not just talking to the wind. The case really gained momentum. According to the findings of the portal isport.cz, the whole matter has already reached the ministerial level. “We can confirm that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a letter to the leadership of the NHL, in which it warned that The Czech Republic or any other state of the Schengen area should not issue visas to Russian players for entry to our territory at this time,” said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Martin Smolek. The ministry also pointed to the ongoing negotiations on the ban on the entry of citizens of the Russian Federation who have valid visas already issued earlier. Read more The legendary Hašek criticizes the Russian star: You should be ashamed! How the whole dispute will develop is questionable for now. It is not a small number of Russian players. On the roster P redators are goalkeeper Jaroslav Askarov and strikers Jakov Trenin and Yegor Afanasjev. The Sharks even count on five Russians – defender Artemiy Kňazev and forwards Alex Barabanov, Danilo Guščin, Timur Ibragimov and Yevgeniy Svečnikov. The deadline for the doubleheader is fast approaching, so the NHL must respond to the challenge from the Czech Republic as soon as possible. Will the unwanted eight appear in the O2 arena?