Minsk excluded from CHL

Due to the politically uncertain situation in the country, Belarusian ice hockey champions Junost Minsk will be unable to compete in the Champions Hockey League. The CHL is withdrawing the wildcard for the team from the Belarusian capital, the league announced on Tuesday.

The organisers have yet to decide whether another team will move into Group F in place of Junost Minsk. "The recent incidents in Belarus and the reactions to them, which have unpredictable effects regarding travel to and from Minsk, make it difficult," writes the governing body of the European club competition.

Various flight cancellations have been announced and carried out, and it is also impossible to predict what further measures will be taken, it continues. Junost's exclusion is therefore linked to the arrest of blogger Roman Protassewitsch. Around three weeks ago, the government in Minsk forced a scheduled flight from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk specifically in order to arrest the 26-year-old regime critic.