FIH President completes successful Russian visit

FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman visited Russia late last week and met with government officials and representatives from the national hockey association to discuss an exciting new development planned for Tatarstan.

Attending the meeting were the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Mr Mintimer Shaimiev, President of the Russian Hockey Federation, Mr S. Chechenkov, and the Russian Minister for Sport, Mr Marat Bariev.

Considered the second strongest sports city in Russia behind Moscow and a rapidly developing area, Tatarstan will construct a new hockey venue complete with two artificial pitches along with a hotel and swimming pool.

Also on her visit, Els held a meeting the vice mayor of Moscow to encourage support for a hockey specific venue in the capital. It is hoped that a venue can be constructed that will be used by the Russian national teams for training and international tournaments. The outcome on this discussion will be known in a month.