January 17, 2022

Nepotism Takes to the Ice


Nepotism Takes to the Ice
We assume Russian hockey is basically like hockey anywhere else, just with a little more vodka. Wikimedia Commons user slgckgc.

Roman Rotenburg has been appointed the head of St. Petersburg's SKA professional hockey team despite having no hockey playing or coaching experience.  So how does one get a coveted position in professional sports? Nepotism.

After all, it's all in who you know. This holds true, apparently, even (especially?) among Russian oligarchs.

Rotenburg's father, Boris Rotenburg, is a well-known childhood friend of Putin's and one of Russia's wealthiest businessmen (those two aspects are interrelated). As such, it's believed that Roman's appointment to a leading position with the hockey team is due mostly to his connections.

Roman boasts his hockey experience as including having watched over 800 games, which seems fair, but, by that standard, almost every American dad with a beer gut would qualify for NFL coaching positions.

Perhaps Putin himself would like to join the starting lineup?

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