Curious and at the same time bitter news from the Spanish Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo (LNHH): A club from the highest Spanish ice hockey league was unable to extend the visas of nine legionnaires. For the players affected, the season has ended abruptly – their chances of continuing their playing time in Europe are at great risk.
The legionnaires come from the USA, Canada and Taiwan and cover all parts of the team. Without a valid residence permit, they are neither allowed to continue playing in the LNHH nor to switch to another European club at short notice.
The club president explained that the authorities had announced that the requirements for a visa extension were not met. Political asylum, studying in Spain or humanitarian residence permits were mentioned as alternatives. There was no irregular migration whatsoever, and the players had planned to leave the country again after the end of the season anyway.
The core of the problem lies in the status of the league: the LNHH is not a professional league. This means that clubs cannot legally employ their legionnaires as foreign workers – a mandatory requirement for the relevant visas. This structural problem now directly affects the players and sporting competition.
“), i.text = “window._taboola = window._taboola || ();_taboola.push({mode:’alternating-thumbnails-a’, container:’taboola-below-article-thumbnails’, placement:’below-article’, target_type: ‘mix’});”, n.appendChild(l), n.appendChild(i), e(n, t) } Array.prototype.filter || (Array.prototype.filter = function(e, t) { if (“function” != typeof e) throw TypeError(); let n = (); for (let l = 0, i = this.length >>> 0; l < i; l += 1) if (l in this) { let r = this(l); e.call(t, r, l, this) && n.push(r) } return n }), window.insertAfter = e, window.getElementByXPath = t, window.injectWidgetByXpath = function e(l) { let i = t(l) ||. document.getElementById("tbdefault"); i && n(i) }, window.injectWidgetByMarker = function e
