MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has recognized as valid a contract of Russian goaltender Ivan Fedotov with the US-based National Hockey League (NHL) club Philadelphia Flyers, the IIHF press office said in a statement on Monday.

"Based on the evidence provided to the IIHF by the involved parties, the IIHF has determined that Ivan Fedotov has a valid NHL Contract with the Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Club for the 2023/2024 season," the statement reads.

"Accordingly, the IIHF has determined that Ivan Fedotov was in breach of a Professional Player Contract per Article II.4.1 of the IIHF International Transfer Regulations when he signed a contract with CSKA hockey club for the 2023/2024 season," the statement added.

On July 8, Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) officially registered CSKA Moscow HC’s two-year contract with Fedotov.

However, the US-based National Hockey League (NHL) announced later in the day that the deal violated the player’s one-year contract with Philadelphia Flyers, which had been signed before the player was drafted for serving in the military.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told TASS in early July that a KHL-NHL memorandum of understanding on inter-league player transfers, initially signed in 2010, has now been rescinded.

The Kontinental Hockey League was founded in Russia in 2008 and lists 22 professional ice hockey clubs, namely from Russia, Belarus, China and Kazakhstan.