Baikal Caves to Federation, Shishkin Fired

QUECHEE, Vermont -- Baikal-Energia Irkutsk has managed to save their season, but at a very, very steep price.

As a result of Baikal's refusal to complete their December 16th match against Kuzbass Kemerovo, the Russian Bandy Federation demanded that the club fire coach Alexander Shishkin, strip midfielder Nikolai Kadakin of his captaincy, and make a formal apology to the Kemerovo fans.

On Tuesday, Baikal agreed to all of the federation's terms. Had they failed to do so, the club faced the cancellation of the remainder of their season. The club also received a fine of one million rubles (US$38,000).

"We expected the sanctions we received today," Shishkin told a reporter from Sport-Express newspaper following a meeting with club officials. "It's very difficult for me to comment right now, because so much has happened these past few days." He added that the federation initially wanted to level a fine of 10 million rubles.

Shishkin said that chief assistant coach Yevgeny Erakhtin would take over as head coach, and that he would remain on the staff as an assistant. The captaincy would be handed to Dmitry Sokolov.

"The federation's decision is unheard of, but nonetheless, to us, it's the law," Kadakin said. "The fact that I'm no longer captain is not a big deal. We have plenty of guys on this team who can take my place."

One of the biggest losses, however, was the suspension of forward Alexander Nasonov. Nasonov, who received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the Kemerovo game after a questionable call by officials - the incident that prompted Baikal to leave the ice - received a 10 game suspension and a 30,000 ruble fine. The suspension is also non-negotiable - usually, the league allows players and teams to pay higher fine to avoid the suspension, but not in this case.

Nasonov was dumbstruck when he heard the decision. "I didn't even expect a suspension at all. What the federation did today is pure fantasy. I can't even believe I got a 10 game suspension," he said. "If I had touched the referees, why didn't they give me a red card right then? I basically went immediately to the penalty box, and then the rest of the team skated to the bench."

The incident has cast a pall over this season, which began promisingly for Irkutsk. But after five straight wins to open the season, the team has dropped their last three, and their match scheduled for Saturday against Metallurg Bratsk was cancelled pending resolution of the Kemerovo incident.

The team travels to Abakan on Tuesday for a match with Sayany, and Shishkin said the team would be prepared.

"Three cameramen, a few journalists and a lawyer are coming with us. Baikal-Energia will be at full strength in Abakan," he said jokingly. "It's offensive to me that again, nobody said anything about how they actually officiated that game in Kemerovo, and who really stopped that match."