Politics

Putin scores 9 goals in charity ice hockey game

Moscow, May 10 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday starred in a charity ice hockey game in the resort city of Sochi, located on the Black Sea.

Wearing No. 11, Putin scored nine goals to lead his team to a 13-9 win in that traditional contest held a day after Victory Day, when Russia commemorates the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.

The 68-year-old president, a big fan of judo and downhill skiing who learned to skate as an adult in 2011, has been competing in charity games alongside senior officials for years.

The fact Russia’s most powerful politician is always the top goal scorer, however, has led some media skeptics to conclude that rival teams don’t dare pose any real opposition.

The head of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Rene Fasel, officiated the game and spoke with Putin about the organization of the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championships, which is to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Russia has been given the green light to organize that competition after the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced to two years a four-year doping sanction proposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency. EFE

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