KHL club withdraws from 2020-21 season, funding diverted to COVID-19 relief

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Admiral Vladivostok of the Kontinental Hockey League will not take part in the 2020-21 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the team announced Tuesday, per Alliance of European Hockey Clubs managing director Szymon Szemberg.

The regional government of Primorsky Krai, where the city of Vladivostok is located, has pulled funding from its sports teams in an effort to help combat the COVID-19 virus. Admiral's main private sponsor "is also experiencing crisis" and likely couldn't make up the shortfall, the team's statement said, meaning the club wouldn't be able to meet the KHL's minimum-wage requirements.

Many KHL teams won't be able to survive without government funding, according to TSN's Rick Westhead, and Szemberg describes Admiral as the "first club in (a) European league to be (a) victim of the pandemic."

The KHL officially canceled its playoffs March 25 after initially postponing them until April 10.

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