Mafia On Ice

7 Pages 1657 Words

It is widely known that the Russian mafia has a hand in corrupting many aspects in the country’s current status. One would think that something of meaning would be kept pure. As baseball is the national pastime of the United States, the same can be said for the sport of hockey in Russia. Hockey is Russia’s baby and on a worldly level has been the country’s dominant sport for the past century. Russia has medaled in an unprecedented 12 of the 17 Olympic games, more than any other country. (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/events/1998/nagano/medals/ice_hockey_results.html) Russia’s hockey schools and minor leagues have been internationally recognized for decades. So for some, it may seem as a surprise that a sport that brings joy to rich and poor alike could be a place of corruption for the mafia.
In 1997, after a 15-month senate investigation of more than 100 players, owners, and officials were interviewed about possible extortion between the Russian mafia and Russian NHL players living in the United States. The investigation concluded that there has been a direct influence on NHL players by the Russian mafia for some level of extortion (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/1997/06/10/news. rusmafia.html). The report said it was estimated that nearly 50 players were, or have been, extorted in some way. Senate investigator Michael Bopp reported that one third of these players even had direct involvement in the wrong doings (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/1997/06/10/news.rusmafia.html). Most of the players were reluctant to speak about their involvements but after doing so said that it was a relief to be able to get it off their chest. One unnamed player followed a similar statement with, “I’m not going to tell you again so don’t ask me. And I’m not going to testify, but I’ll tell you about being extorted (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/1997/06/10/new...