KHL has no goal of artificial expansion, says Morozov
KHL president Alexei Morozov says the league will not pressure clubs to join, citing Yugra as a club still weighing entry two years after asking about terms.
The Kontinental Hockey League has no aim of expanding for its own sake, league president Alexei Morozov said, and does not intend to press clubs into joining. Sport-Express carried his comments, citing Izvestia.
"We have no task of forcing clubs to join the KHL at any cost. There is no goal of artificially expanding the league. We work with the regions, and if any of them have questions, we give detailed explanations," Morozov said.
The league sets out its requirements on financial guarantees and infrastructure in detail, he said. Any new team, in his view, has to rest on what a region can afford and on local sponsors being ready to back a club at KHL level.
Morozov named Yugra of Khanty-Mansiysk as an example. Two years ago the club's representatives asked about the terms of entry, received the explanations they needed and have not yet made a decision.
Club officials, Morozov added, must be motivated to win and to keep the sporting standard high.
If the league holds to this line, any new entrant is likely to come from a region that has already settled its funding, rather than from a push by the KHL itself. Yugra's answer, still outstanding after two years, shows how slowly such a decision can move.
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