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KHL May Not Send Players To Winter Olympics


Action from the KHL's 2016 All-Star game.
Action from the KHL's 2016 All-Star game.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) may not allow its players to compete at the Pyeongchang Olympics in protest at doping investigations into Russian athletes.

In a statement on November 4, KHL President Dmitry Chernyshenko said the International Olympic Committee "is destroying the existing world order in sports" by pursuing doping cases against Russians in other sports who are suspected of using banned substances around the time of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The Russian-dominated KHL, widely considered the strongest league outside the NHL, contains leading Russians but also many players who could represent the United States, Canada, and various European nations.

Chernyshenko mentioned the NHL’s decision not to send players to Pyeongchang in February 2018 after failing to reach a deal with the IOC, adding "the KHL is ready to respond accordingly."

Based on reporting by AP and TASS

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