University of Turku Faculty of Humanities Baltic Sea Region ... - Doria

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the bull by the horns.” 114 The ultimate goal of the new league was to make a “demanded
product” with “sell-out in the stands” and self-sufficient advertising, television, and
financial system that would also become the foundry of players for the national hockey
team. Furthermore, to make the project more attractive for the teams, on its initial stages,
the state-owned companies were going to give the new league the financial investment it
needs, covering 55 percent of the league’s share:
They [the state-owned companies] will become the kind of locomotive of the
League, which drags along the carriages with the clubs and new sponsors. And
when the League will get stronger, the shares of state-owned companies will be
given to the clubs. The task of big business – to give impetus to the development
of hockey in the country. They do not want to make hay out of this project - this
is the most important [outcome]. 115 [translation mine]
Simultaneously, the Kremlin urgently encouraged Tretiak, Medvedev, and Fetisov
to cooperate constructively for the implementation of the continental hockey league.
However, both hockey structures found themselves in a natural disagreement on how to
operate the new league due to their different and to a certain extent antagonistic mandates.
Tretiak, being encouraged by the government to increase rich traditions of Russian
hockey, was eager to preserve the “national” status of the league and keep the control
over the decision-making process in the FHR’s hands so that its “global” status does not
hinder the needs of the national hockey team. 116 On the other hand, Medvedev and
Fetisov, receiving a full mandate to create an ambitious global business project with the
114 Kyrill Belyakov, ”Клубам Наконец-то Показали Лигу. Вчера Руководители Открытой Российской
Хоккейной Лиги Показали Свой Проект Представителям Наших Клубов [The League was Finally
Revealed to the Teams. Yesterday the Organizers of the Russian Open Hockey League Presented their
Project to the Representatives of Our Teams].” Soviet Sports. 24 Nov. 2007. Web. 20 Mar. 2013. <
http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/274927>. Intro Para.
115 Kyrill Belyakov, Клубам Наконец-то Показали Лигу End Para; On January 24, 2008, Aleksander
Medvedev announced the appointment to the Board of Directors of the ORHL. The first Deputy Prime
Minister of Russia, Sergei Naryshkin, agreed to take the post of the chairman. Medvedev himself, along
with the head of Rossport, Vyacheslav Fetisov, went to the Board of Directors. The financial “locomotive”
of the league would be formed by the parent companies of the league, such as Gazprom, Rosoboronexport,
Rossgosstrah, VTB, Vnesheconombank, Transneft, Ingosstrakh and Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works,
whose representatives also received sits in the Board of Directors. From the interview with Medvedev In
“Открытая Лига Огласила Список Острых Вопросов [The Open League Announced the List of Sharp
Questions].” Чемпионат.cом. 24 Jan. 2008. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
.
116 Mihail Voronov, “Запахло Расколом: Владислав Третьяк Хочет Привлечь Владимира Путина в
Качестве Арбитра к Спору о Будущем Нашего Хоккея [The Smell of Split: Vladislav Tretiak Wants to
See Vladimir Putin as the Arbitrator in the Dispute about the Future of Our Hockey].” Новые Известия. 5
Mar. 2008. 2013. Web. Mar. 20. 2013. .