The Belarusian hockey leader is resigning due to political threats

The Belarusian hockey official has resigned because he was banned from playing for five years because of the political convictions of the players.

The Belarusian Hockey Federation had originally announced that Dmitry Baskov could continue as president against Wednesday’s ban, but he told state TV on Friday that he would step down to avoid possible new sanctions against the union if he stayed.

The International Hockey Federation ruled that Baskov abused his position by trying to influence others to support the authoritarian President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. The investigation found evidence that he threatened and discriminated against Belarusian athletes because of their political opinion.

The IIHF previously eliminated Belarus as the host of this year’s Men’s World Championships after opposition from sponsors.

Belarus has been in turmoil for more than a year since long-term President Lukashenko, a passionate hockey fan, was re-elected in a vote that was widely rigged and led to violent repression of pro-democracy demonstrations.