Football, hockey teams demonstrated poor results in 2021 — Russian deputy premier

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Russia’s national football, hockey and basketball teams demonstrated unsatisfactory results in 2021, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said after a meeting with the participation of Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin on Friday. "Our footballers’ performance in the European championship, the hockey team’s defeat in the World Championship’s quarterfinal, losing to Mexico’s basketball team in the Olympic qualifier are not the results that our taxpayers and the government would like to see. During his Direct Line, the president said the sports sector requires solutions in personnel and management. Preponderance of foreign players, inflated salaries of athletes, non-transparent selection criteria - all those problems require immediate action," Chernyshenko said in a comment, provided to TASS by his press service. During his annual question-and-answer session on June 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the poor performance of the Russian national ice hockey and football teams at the recent international tournaments called for changes, including staff reshuffles. At the 2021 IIHF (the International Ice Hockey Federation) World Championship, hosted by Latvia’s Riga between May 21 and June 6, the Russian team failed to clear the quarterfinals stage of the tournament losing to Canada 1-2 in the overtime period. At the 2020 UEFA Euro Cup this month, the Russian national team failed to clear the group stage of the tournament. The Russian football team has wrapped up its European championship tour finishing in Group B’s cellar with three points after three matches. The team kicked off its 2020 Euro Cup campaign with a 0-3 defeat against Belgium and a 1-0 win over Finland - both matches were played in Russia’s St. Petersburg. Nevertheless, they lost to Denmark 1-4 in Copenhagen on the night of June 21. During the Olympic qualifier in late June - early July, Russia’s basketball team lost to Mexico (64:72) and Germany (67:69). The team finished last in the group and did not make it into the tournament’s playoff. Read more