Russia to help China develop ice hockey

“The development of ice hockey in China with Russia’s assistance is supported at the top state level.” This is according to First Vice-President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation Roman Rotenberg who made the statement at a recent press conference.

Vyacheslav Fetisov, ice hockey legend and member of the board of directors of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), said earlier that the issue of including one or two Chinese ice hockey clubs in the KHL had been decided after talks between the leaders of Russia and China.

"The task is to build a hockey vertical: a KHL team, a second team playing in the Chinese league, a team in the youth league and mass involvement so that all who wish can play ice hockey. To facilitate this there should be more ice rinks that are public and open to all. This is a priority task," Rotenberg said.

According to Rotenberg, a working group has been established to deal with these issues. A Chinese ice hockey club, based in China, will be established to participate in the KHL. It is to be financed by Russian and Chinese business. 

"Financing is already available, including both Russian and Chinese participation. Financing  comes fully from business," Rotenberg said.

Rotenberg revealed earlier that the Chinese club would be based in Beijing and is scheduled to play its first KHL game in September 2016.

Source: tass

Proofread by John Devlin