The senator of the Republic of Belarus addressed the Russian U18 hockey team after the incident
The hockey players of the Russian team refused to accept awards for second place due to some refereeing decisions during the lost final with the Belarus team (5:6 OT).
“Such an attitude towards our hockey players and fans from boys who are just starting their journey into big-time sports is simply unacceptable and contradicts the friendship and support that has always existed between our countries and peoples.
Something can be attributed to inexperience and emotions, hot blood, because the ability to lose with dignity and draw the right lessons from defeats is an entire art, and this Russian team has not yet mastered it.
But in this case, I would like to remind the team’s coaches: raising a hockey player means not only teaching him skating and stick handling, but also instilling in him the right life values and guidelines, which is especially important in the current political situation in sports in general and hockey in particular,” — Baskov said in a conversation with “Championship” correspondent Pavel Panyshev.
