Report: Russian Team Doubles Down on Fedotov, Continues To Ignore IIHF Ruling

Something's gotta give on the Ivan Fedotov front. The IIHF recently ruled in favor of the Philadelphia Flyers in their contract battle with CSKA Moscow over the legal contractual status of the goaltender for the coming season. The international body ruled in favor of the Flyers. But the Russian team has doubled down, reiterating their stance that they will continue playing the goaltender. Next up: the KHL season opener on Sept. 1st.

CSKA President Igor Esmantovich says #FueledByPhilly Ivan Fedotov will play September 1.

“As I said, Fedotov will play with CSKA from September 1. I would not like to interpret the nuances, we did everything legally correct,” Esmantovich said.

Source: https://t.co/ebhwdBLNVX

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) August 23, 2023

“As I said, Fedotov will play with CSKA from September 1. I would not like to interpret the nuances, we did everything legally correct,” said CSKA President Igor Esmantovich. 

The Russian TASS news agency reports that the IIHF said today that it's "ready to apply disciplinary sanctions against CSKA if Fedotov takes part in the opening match of the KHL regular season against Ak Bars Kazan on September 1".

CSKA has filed an appeal of the August 14th ruling awarding Fedotov to the Flyers. That IIHF ruling also banned the Moscow squad from international transfers for a year. Fedotov also was suspended for four months, until Dec. 31, 2023. 

The 26-year-old goalie had originally signed a contract with Philly for the 2022-23 season, but he was called to mandatory military service in Russia for the past year, so the Flyers appealed to have his contract roll over to this season. In the meantime, he had signed a two-year deal with CSKA. The IIHF ruled the latter contract invalid while verifying his Flyers deal.

Lots of fireworks still to come on this developing story.

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