KAZAN, Aug 9, Andrey Senchenko. Obtaining a Russian passport by foreigners hockey players is a normal thing, Alexander Ovechkin, the Russian striker of the National Hockey League (NHL) Washington Capitals club, told reporters.
Earlier, Dynamo Moscow sports director Alexei Sopin said that American hockey player Brennan Menell had almost completed the process of obtaining Russian sports citizenship. On July 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree granting Menell citizenship of the Russian Federation. It was also reported that the Canadian striker of St. Petersburg SKA Brendan Leipsik plans to obtain Russian citizenship.
«As for the Russian passport for foreigners in the KHL, then someone from other countries also receives Canadian citizenship, American. This is in the order of things,» Ovechkin said.