Andrei Kovalenko, reelected as head of KHL Players’ Union

On Sunday, July 7th, Moscow’s Nikolskaya Kempinski Hotel hosted the annual gathering of the KHL Players’ Union, and the following day the same venue held a press conference at which it was officially announced that Andrei Kovalenko is to stay on for another five-year term as the Chairman. Kovalenko spoke to journalists of his successful reelection and also of the progress his organization has made:

“One purpose of this gathering was for us evaluate our work over the previous five years, and the verdict was a positive one. There are still a few things we need to work on, however. The players still do not have sufficient medical cover, for example, and this particularly applies to those playing in the VHL. We also need to look at the amount of flying the players have to do, and we’ll discuss the Eurotour breaks, when 25 guys are called up for the national team while the rest enjoy a kind of mini preseason.

I’ll repeat the thoughts of the players: we are not prepared to agree to the disclosure of our salaries, first and foremost because players have to consider their own security and the safety of their families. As for my rivals in the election, both Maxim Krivonozhkin and Andrei Nikolishin polled a lot of votes, but the majority supported my candidacy.”