The Finnish professional hockey team Jokerit, playing in the Russian-controlled Continental Hockey League (KHL), did not travel to Belarus on Thursday’s schedule.
The team was scheduled to play against Dinamo Minsk, but he had to criticize the planned match amid protests against city governments and a coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, the supporters ’club announced a boycott of the team’s home games if the game progressed. There have been massive demonstrations and police brutality in Minsk since the August 9 presidential election, which has been widely convicted of fraud.
The team members were scheduled to fly from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport on Thursday at 1 p.m., but they did not show up for the charter flight at the airport, according to Iltalehti’s editor.
Finnair confirmed to Yle that the flight did not depart.
The next stop is Riga
According to Flight Radar, Jokerit’s next charter flight is scheduled to fly to Riga, Latvia, on Friday, where they will have to play for a local team, also known as Dynamo.
Helsinki and Riga are the only EU cities represented in the league. All but five of KHL’s 23 teams are Russian, one from Belarus, China, Finland, Latvia and Kazakhstan.
The decision to move the Jokers "eastern league" made in 2013 by the then owner Hjallis Harkimo. He has since sold his stake in the team and has been elected to Parliament to represent his own Movement Now.
Source: The Nordic Page