New serfs: athletes going abroad will pay the costs of their training

The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill, according to which, when moving to foreign clubs, young athletes must compensate for the costs spent on their training in Russia.

Thus, the deputies showed a kind of concern, first of all, about domestic hockey, the state of which is causing increasing concern: the number of victories in the international arena is declining, and the number of problems in Russian hockey is growing. At the same time, hockey is a rather expensive sport that is becoming less and less accessible. The decrease in its mass character directly affects the prospects, and then there is also a constant outflow of juniors and youth to North America ...

Additions to the law "On Physical Culture and Sports in the Russian Federation" suggest that an athlete who has not reached 23 years of age (the limit at 23 is due to the fact that by this year the athlete is becoming an athlete and reaching his peak performance - ed. ) And drafted a foreign club will be obliged to pay the Russian organization that carried out its preparation compensation in the amount determined by the Ministry of Sports. The exception is competitions held by a professional league that unites Russian and foreign clubs (for example, the KHL).

However, if athletes do not receive proposals to conclude employment contracts from Russian sports clubs, then the bill provides for the possibility of exemption from payment of compensation.

According to statistics, about 400 hockey players leave Russia every year, many of whom do not pay their schools any compensation, although the cost of training one athlete ranges from 300 thousand to 1 million rubles a year.

According to the experts of the Nezygar channel, the NHL receives the rights to the player as a priority, often even before the conclusion of an agreement with the domestic club and, in fact, the school that raised the hockey player is left with nothing.

Young players 18-19 years old are drafted by NHL clubs and move to America and Canada, and some leave even earlier, playing in the junior North American leagues.

However, this bill has opponents in the State Duma itself. For example, the deputy, and in the past one of the leading hockey players in the world, Vyacheslav Fetisov criticized him, saying that his adoption would only speed up the departure of players who later would not be able to play for the Russian national team, and also announced many possible lawsuits from parents and athletes ...

But political scientist Abbas Gallyamov wittily proposes to extend this norm to other spheres of life:

“The idea is productive and it must be developed. For example, if a deputy of the State Duma who has served one convocation cannot be re-elected for the next term, he must compensate for the costs incurred by the budget for its maintenance over the previous five years. It is obvious that if a voter did not want to vote for this deputy, then he ate his bread for nothing. Why should the state pay for the work of this bum?"

According to experts, the new law, in fact, revives the “serfdom” in the country: “The next obvious move: the law requires a young person who leaves to work abroad to pay in full for the education they receive. Such ideas are already being voiced by the guardians. But, if you think loyally, then let the state first return the taxes that were paid by his parents, because if a person wanted to leave, it is obvious that the Motherland did not perform its duties well ... "

Commentators also propose to start the practice of compensation with former athletes who spent their best years in a foreign land and now sit in the State Duma. We also remembered such a version of the serf system, which was practiced in the USSR: “The old Soviet theme of compulsory work on distribution after receiving an education. Serfdom with demonstrative flogging in the stable is becoming an element of modernity..."