On Wednesday, Ak Bars officially appealed to the league with a request to prematurely end the season without defining a champion. “We believe that no one has the right to take responsibility for the lives and health of people,” the club’s website said in a statement. Kazan insists that full training is impossible – because of the risk of infection of players and staff, and foreign coaches and hockey players are asking to let them go home to their families: “We have no moral right to refuse them.”
Besides, Ak Bars opposed the truncated tournament for six teams without spectators, which could become an alternative to the playoffs 2020: “The sports component of such a tournament will be absent and will reduce to a minimum level the feeling of the value of victory in the KHL championship.” The Kazan club will be removed from the season, if matches continue after April 10, a letter about this has already been sent to Alexei Morozov.
The legendary team-mate of the KHL president reacted to the situation with the epidemic. Danis Zaripov is the most titled of the current players in the league, who played in two iconic links of Russian hockey. This season, he could again play together with Ak Bars in the finals – but on Tuesday he gave a powerful speech on the cancellation of the Gagarin Cup 2020. Danis spoke through club social networks and the official website of Ak Bars, saying that the health of fans and hockey players is much more important than the hockey championship:
“I stand for cancelling the playoffs this season. I think the league will make the right decision. We may not fully realize how dangerous the situation associated with the spread of coronavirus can be. Everything possible must be done to minimize the risk not only for our loved ones but also for our fans, for all residents of the country. It is necessary to carry out all the required measures, which, for example, are already operating in Russia and Tatarstan. If possible, stay at home, not visit public places, spend these days with your families, minimize the possibility of infection.
To play hockey now means to put at risk not only hockey players but also the entire environment. At the same time, the sports component will recede into the background, and I can’t imagine how to think about hockey now and tune in to battle while playing without fans. When holding any tournament with the remaining participants in the playoffs, the Gagarin Cup is unlikely to have any value, and I assure you that no one will have the joy of victory. Who will take the risk if one of the participants becomes ill or becomes a source of infection? How far can it go?
The most reasonable decision will now be to quarantine everyone, and thereby contribute to the non-proliferation of this disaster.”
Following the Ak Bars withdrawal from the tournament, only five clubs are remaining to continue the playoffs. Ak Bars is the most titled club in the history of the KHL winning Gagarin Cup three times. We empathize this decision made by the club looking at the current situation around the world.
