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MINSK, Belarus (AP) – Belarus’ top ice hockey official has resigned after being suspended for five years for threatening players because of their political beliefs.
The Belarusian hockey federation had initially indicated that Dmitry Baskov could remain president in defiance of Wednesday’s ban, but he said on state television on Friday that he was stepping down to avoid possible additional sanctions against the federation s ‘he stayed.
The International Ice Hockey Federation ruled that Baskov had “abused his position” by trying to influence others to support authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. His investigation found evidence that he “threatened and discriminated against Belarusian athletes because of their political opinion.”
The IIHF previously pulled Belarus as the host for this year’s men’s world championships after a backlash from sponsors.
Belarus has been in turmoil for more than a year since longtime president Lukashenko, who is an avid hockey fan, was re-elected in a vote widely seen as rigged and which led to a violent crackdown on protests in favor of democracy.
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