The Canadian government is worried about its hockey pros who play in Russia and Belarus, fearing they could end up with a similar fate as WNBA star Brittney Griner, reported the toronto sun.
Canadian regulators fear they will not be able to provide the support needed if one of the players is arrested in Russia or Belarus. So the federal government Athletes playing in these countries are advised to leave as soon as possible, the outlet writes.
At the moment, 44 Canadian hockey players play in Russia and Belarus, and four others are located in Kazakhstan. All 48 are on the Continental Hockey League (KHL) roster.
Considering that when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Canada was among Ukraine’s first supporters, providing $626 million in military aid and $320 in humanitarian aid so far, some political experts believe that a Similar scenario to Griner’s could happen to Canadian athletes.
Maria Popova, associate professor of political science at McGill University in Quebec believes athletes are at real risk. “Anyone who is in Russia is always in danger of being tricked, imprisoned or used as a pawn, whatever the local government, central government and so on decides,” Popova said. “I think something like what happened to Brittney Griner is possible. The same playbook can safely be repeated in a case against a Canadian player.”
What happened to Griner?
Griner, Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion, pleaded guilty to drug offenses in Russia. Her defense focused on the fact that she is a registered medical marijuana patient in her home state who was packing in a hurry and accidentally brought medical cannabis to Russia. She was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.
After the verdict was read President Joe Biden said that the nine-year prison sentence was “unacceptable”.
The two countries are now considering a prisoner swap – Brittney Griner and…
