MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. The Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) is looking at increasing the maximum number of foreign players allowed to be rostered by the league’s clubs from three to five, KHL President Alexey Morozov said on Monday.

According to him, the issue of foreign players, also called ‘legionnaires’ in Russia, will be discussed next year by the KHL and the Russian Sports Ministry.

"We will start discussions with the Sports Ministry next year regarding the quota of foreign legionnaires," Morozov told journalists. "We believe that the optimal number is five foreign players [per club]."

The Russian Sports Ministry previously approved a new cap on the number of foreign players allowed on the rosters of the clubs of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) starting on August 1, 2023.

On April 19, 2022 the RHF (the Russian Ice Hockey Federation) submitted a proposal to the Russian Sports Ministry to cut the number of foreign players permitted to play for KHL clubs from five to three.

President of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) Vladislav Tretiak told TASS last September that tougher limits on the number of foreign players playing for the clubs of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) would help open up as many as 40 roster spots in the Russia-based league’s clubs.

The Kontinental Hockey League was founded in Russia in 2008 and lists 23 professional ice hockey clubs, namely from Russia, Belarus, China and Kazakhstan.

In spring this year, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) ruled to extend indefinitely the suspension term for national ice hockey teams and clubs representing Russia and Belarus from international tournaments.

Worldwide sanctions against Russian, Belarusian ice hockey

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Congress, hosted by Finland’s Tampere on May 27, 2022, voted to exclude the national teams of Russia and Belarus from the 2023 World Championship, and the two teams were likewise sidelined at the 2022 Ice Hockey World Championship, due to the developments in Ukraine.

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing the special military operation in Ukraine.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.