Czechia team manager claims case of mistaken identity got his team booted from flight in Calgary

The team manager for Czechia at the cancelled World Juniors says his team did nothing wrong and it was a case if mistaken identity that got them left off a flight leaving Calgary on New Year's Eve.

"It was a very strange situation. We arrived at the airport in Calgary about three hours in advance. Our players went to buy souvenirs from Canada and some of the players phoned their families back home," said Otakar Cerny. "On the other hand, we saw the Russian players sitting in a bar. I had warned all our guys to keep their masks on and keep their spacing at all times while at the airport."

"Then we boarded the plane and it should be noted that even at that moment we noticed that some members of the Russian expedition were clearly not following the hygiene rules and alcohol probably played a role in this. One of the members of the Russian implementation team even smoked in the tunnel before entering the plane. Some fellow passengers then complained about the Russians' behaviour and the crew had the entire plane cleared out for that reason," Cerny said."

Cerny went on to say that his team was wearing grey Nike sweatshirts issued to all players in advance of the tournament, and he believes that's why the Czechs weren't allowed to board the flight.

"These sweatshirts were given to all the players before the start of the championship. Unfortunately, the Czech ones look exactly the same as the Russian ones, with the only difference being that our players' hoodies say 'Czech Republic' and the Russian ones say 'Russia'."

"Although we explained to the Air Canada representatives for about thirty minutes that our players had not violated anything, their decision could not be reversed," Cerny said. "The slightly bizarre thing about the whole situation is that after the plane left without us, the Air Canada representatives apologized to us and at their expense arranged for us to get a hotel and a flight to Frankfurt at the same time a day later. They also assured us that we would not be on the same flight as the Russian hockey players."

Reports state police were called to remove Russian players and staff from the plane after unruly behaviour, refusing to wear masks and smoking/vaping on the plane and in the airport. Russian head coach Sergei Zubov is attempting to downplay those reports.

Source: IDNES.cz

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