MOSCOW (AP) — Vladislav Tretiak has won a contest between two Russian ice hockey greats to be re-elected as president of the national federation.
Soviet-era goaltender Tretiak, who is close to the country’s influential Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, defeated Viacheslav Fetisov by 125 votes to 11 at the federation conference on Wednesday.
Tretiak wins a third consecutive four-year term in a position he has held since 2006, despite the federation coming in for criticism after Russia’s defeat in the quarterfinals of the Sochi Olympics.
He is a longtime proponent of allowing fewer foreign players at Russian clubs so that local prospects get more ice time.
Fetisov, a multiple Olympic, world, and Stanley Cup champion defenseman, has accused Tretiak of allowing Russia’s youth hockey development to wither, and backed a more liberal approach to foreign players to help clubs compete internationally.
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