The KHL is expanding.
TASS Russian News Agency reports the league will expand into China next season. Deputy chairman Roman Rotenberg said the team will play at the MasterCard Center in Beijing, which is the current home of the Beijing Ducks basketball team.
“I was in Beijing recently together with Chairman of the KHL Board of Directors Gennady Timchenko and we held a lot of meetings at the state level. The focus is on infrastructure and the number of ice hockey players. This is the foundation. So far, there are not many persons in China playing ice hockey. There is support for that. Serious work is under way in this direction,” Rotenberg said.
The new team will be financed by both Russian and Chinese businessman. The Chinese government is also reportedly supporting the movement, wanting hockey to expand in the country before they host the 2022 Olympics. Rotenberg says the team will help build hockey in China.
“The task is to build a hockey vertical: a KHL team, a second team playing in the Chinese league, a team in the youth league and mass involvement so that all who wish can play ice hockey and there should be more ice rinks that are public and open for all. This is a priority task,” Rotenberg said.
China would be the latest country to join the KHL, as Kazakhstan, Belarus, Latvia, Finland, Croatia and Slovakia all have teams within the Russian league. You can knock the KHL for a number of things, but you can’t deny they’re growing the game across the world.
