Russian and Czech Junior Ice Hockey team players were forced to disembark an Air Canada flight on New Year’s Eve.
The Russian and Czech teams were heading their homes via Frankfurt onboard Air Canada’s flight AC848 from Calgary to Frankfurt. However, they were deplaned after multiple passengers complained about the Russian team not wearing masks, violating Air Canada’s mask policy.
The athletes were returning home after the 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships recently got cancelled due to cases of COVID-19 among the participant teams. The Championship had begun a few days ago, on December 26th, 2021, and it was suspended after two days.
The Russian athletes were reportedly refusing to wear masks, despite their sport requiring the use of far more substantial headgear. Russian team head coach Sergei Zubov also confirmed that the teams were pulled due to very strict rules.
Two hours late so far on Calgary to Frankfurt flight. The Russian Juniors team was in back, trying to smoke cigarettes, not wearing masks, not listening to attendants. Cops swarmed the plane. We all had to get off while they and their luggage were removed.
— Kathleen Scherf (@DrScherf) January 1, 2022
However, the Czech team were only prevented from boarding due to wearing similar sweatshirts to the Russian squad, as stated by the Czech manager, Otakar Černý. In a statement to iDnes.cz, he said:
“They threw us into the same bag as the Russians and told us that the entire party could no longer board the plane. Air Canada apologized to us and, at their expense, arranged a hotel and a flight to Frankfurt at the same time a day later. They also assured us that we would not fly the same flight as the Russian players.”
