Hockey player of the Russian national team Didkovsky: the Finns were allowed on the flight, but we were told that we were not flying
Russian youth ice hockey team. Photo: Joel Marklund / Globallookpress.com
Hockey players of the Russian youth team commented on the situation with the removal of the team from the flight from Calgary to Frankfurt on January 1. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the press service of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.
According to the forward of the youth team Ivan Didkovsky, the team spent the night at the airport after the canceled World Cup in Canada due to cases of coronavirus.
“We were told that we are not flying”
Didkovsky noted that all the athletes were wearing masks at the airport, and none of the staff made any comments to them. The hockey players were sitting “mixed with other passengers on a huge scheduled plane,” so it is possible that a conflict between hockey players and employees could have arisen by mistake, the striker said.
At first, everyone stood and waited for a long time, then little by little passengers began to be allowed back on the flight, seated in zones. At the end there were three teams left, the Finns were allowed on the flight, and we and the Czechs were told that we were not flying. We spent the night at the airport, the management organized a night flight to Frankfurt via Toronto, there was no point in going to the hotel
Ivan Didkovsky Forward of the Russian youth hockey team
“Nobody made comments”
The hockey player of the youth national team of Russia Dmitry Zlodeev also did not see on board the flight from which the team was removed, defiantly behaving people. His words are reported by TASS.
No one personally addressed me with comments about the masks, when they boarded the plane, a steward came up to us and reminded us that masks should cover the nose all the time. He suggested new masks – that's all. Then they announced that they had to get off the plane. It is clear that they could be scolded for the masks, but now this is a common thing, she can slide off her nose during a conversation
Dmitry Zlodeev hockey player of the Russian youth team
The athlete also said that no one raised his voice on the plane and did not break the rules, TASS notes. At the same time, he added that among the passengers on the flight there were three ice hockey teams and many ordinary people flying to Europe. “I don't even know how many passengers there were. Three hockey teams and just as many ordinary people who flew to Europe. It was New Year's Eve, maybe someone was celebrating, but no one shouted or behaved defiantly, ”he said.
According to Zlodeev, the hockey players wanted to fly home as soon as possible, but their plans for the weekend were suddenly thwarted. Parents were ready to go from Voronezh to Moscow, he recalls. “When I found out the news about the cancellation, I was furious, but I understand why it happened, just the emotions are very strong. We were preparing for a different result, ”said Zlodeev.
Removal from flight
On January 1, the Russian youth ice hockey team was unable to fly out of Calgary, Canada after the 2022 World Youth Championship was canceled. This was announced on Twitter by Swedish journalist Marie Lehmann, who was supposed to fly the same flight with the team.
Lehmann said that the national teams of Russia and the Czech Republic were removed from the flight to Frankfurt am Main. She stated that some hockey players behaved indecently at the airport. The journalist noted that the reason for the denial of boarding was drunkenness, smoking and the refusal of athletes to wear masks.
Not all Czech and Russian players behaved inappropriately, but everyone was not allowed on board
Marie Lehmann, journalist for the Swedish edition of SVT
Cancellation of the world championship
On December 29, it became known about the cancellation of the youth ice hockey world championship due to outbreaks of coronavirus in several teams. In the Russian national team, two players became infected, among them was 17-year-old Matvey Michkov. The players were quarantined.
Before the cancellation of the championship, it was reported that the match between the national teams of Russia and Slovakia at the MFM was canceled. The Russian team was awarded a technical defeat with a score of 0: 1. Teams from the United States and the Czech Republic, where cases of coronavirus were also identified, were also awarded technical injuries.
