MOSCOW - The head of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, Mr Valentin Sych, was shot dead in an apparent contract killing yesterday outside Moscow, police said. His wife was wounded.
Police found the killer's car and gun near the scene.
Mr Sych (60), whose national hockey squad was due to fly to Helsinki today for the world championships, had spoken out recently against the involvement in sports of Russia's criminal underworld. Two months ago he said criminal activity in Russian sports was getting worse, and many players and officials were scared and facing pressure to abet illegal ventures.
For 20 years up to 1989 Mr Sych was on the Soviet Sports Committee, becoming deputy head in 1984. After a brief spell representing Russian winter sports at the International Olympic Committee, he became president of the hockey federation in 1994.