Rustam Ibrayev, executive director of the Kazakhstan Hockey Federation, has denied reports circulating in foreign media and social networks that the country allegedly supports a boycott of the Russian team at the World Championship, infohub.kz reports.
The executive director's statement was published on the Kazakhstan Hockey Federation's website. According to Rustam Ibrayev, several foreign media outlets and social networks have been spreading a claim that the Kazakhstan Hockey Federation allegedly supports a boycott of Russian hockey players. Ibrayev said this information is untrue.
"Kazakhstan is a full member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and conducts its activities in strict accordance with its charter and regulations. We proceed from the premise that issues of admitting national teams and forming the lineup of World Championship participants fall under the exclusive competence of the IIHF and must be resolved taking into account the position of authorized judicial bodies and current international sports norms. The Kazakhstan Hockey Federation consistently advocates the development of international cooperation, fair sports competition, and equal conditions for all participants," Ibrayev noted.
The Central Communications Service's Center for Combating Disinformation also commented on the fake reports. It said that social media posts had spread statements attributed to Minister of Tourism and Sports Yerbol Myrzabosynov that he did not make.
"The information dump was disseminated in Russian, Czech, and English through accounts on X and Bluesky. The spreaders involved users located in several countries of Eastern and Central Europe. Within a few hours, the original post on X garnered more than 12,000 views and over 200 reposts. The simultaneous promotion of the same wording in multiple languages may indicate signs of possible coordination in spreading disinformation," the center said.
It emphasized that the circulated reports are untrue. It noted that such distortions of Kazakhstan's official position are aimed at artificially escalating international tensions.