Moscow, May 10 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin played in a charity ice hockey match in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday.
Wearing the No.11, Putin scored nine goals to lead his side to a 13-9 win in the traditional competition held a day after Victory Day, when Russia commemorates the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.
The 68-year-old president, an avid judo and downhill skier who learned to skate as an adult in 2011, has been taking part in charity matches alongside senior officials for years.
However, the fact that Russia’s most powerful politician is still the top scorer has led some media skeptics to conclude that the rival teams dare not pose real opposition.
International Ice Hockey Federation chief Rene Fasel refereed the game and spoke with Putin about hosting the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championships, to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Russia was given the green light to host the competition after the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced a four-year anti-doping sanction proposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency to two years. ECE
io/ta/mc
