Bykov and Zakharkin resign from Russian national team, official announcement yet to come

Russian national team coaching duo Vyacheslav Bykov and Igor Zakharkin have been sacked according to Sportbox.ru.

The coaches have reported on their work at the meeting attended by Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko, his deputy Yury Nagornykh, president of the Russian Hockey Federation (FHR) Vladislav Tretyak, and the FHR chief executive Valery Fesyuk.

After several hours of debates and arguments the management decided to dismiss Bykov and Zakharkin.

However, according to the aforementioned source, the definitive and official decision on coaches of the Russian national team will be announced on May 26, when a meeting of the FHR Executive Committee is scheduled. This time it will be held in an extended format, including authoritative experts, representatives of the KHL and the Ministry of Sports.

The main candidates for the head coach position as of now are Zinetula Bilyaletdinov and Milos Riha.