The head of the St. Petersburg hockey team SKA, Roman Rotenberg, reacted to his recent disqualification in a message on Telegram.
“I am always on the side of our team, players and fair play!” – Rotenberg noted in his message.
On November 4, the leadership of the Continental Hockey League (KHL) announced the disqualification of the coach for critical statements addressed to the referees after the match with Avangard. According to the league’s official statement, this decision followed Rotenberg’s repeated violation of the clause of the regulations on sportsmanship. “The club is subject to a financial fine, and head coach Roman Rotenberg is subject to a one-game disqualification,” the KHL commented.
SKA’s defeat to Avangard with a score of 3:5 occurred on November 3 at the team’s home stadium. During the match, a clash occurred between Ivan Zinchenko from SKA and Mark Verba from Avangard. Rotenberg commented on the incident that occurred after the fight: “The referees arrived on the scene, but the Avangard player continued to strike our prone hockey player. Now he has a scar for life. It could have ended much worse.” This is how Rotenberg expressed his outrage at what happened.