KHL team claims Finnish medical officials refused scheduled surgery on their player

The invasion of Ukraine has heightened tensions between Russia and Finland, and that has already spilled over into the hockey world with Jokerit Helsinki withdrawing from the KHL, which is based on Russia. Now, a KHL team is accusing medical officials in Finland of refusing to perform a scheduled surgery on one of their players claiming they were told it was because he's from Russia.

"I can say that they called and told me that the clinic no longer treats Russian citizens. We see it as a political thing," said Rinat Bashirov, GM of Salavat Yulaev.

Bashirov would not name the player or the clinic at which the knee surgery was scheduled to be performed citing privacy reasons. But, he did say the player is a member of Salavat's junior team based in Tolpar.

"It doesn't bode well for us. I can't say if this is a trend for the whole country, but, based on how it is interpreted to us, this is a political point for us."

Finland, like Ukraine, borders Russia and has had clashes with the country in the past. Finnish youth must complete mandatory military service, which was implemented partially due to the concern over conflicts with Russia.

Meanwhile, a researcher with the the Foreign Policy Institute told Finnish-based media outlet Ilta-Sanomat that this whole thing could be Russian propaganda aimed at making Finland look bad.

"In Russia, the state maintains information control. Journalists working in such conditions have a strong sense of what they can, cannot and should write about. This produces propaganda outbursts, where you can compete to see who has made the best patriotic sports story or something similar. It may be indirectly linked to the NATO debate and the negative image of Finland, but I wouldn't draw such a direct link," said Jussi Lassilan

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