Hockey expert and agent **Aleksey Dementyev** believes that the KHL needs a union to safeguard the interests of the league’s players. Recently, Traktor forward **Josh Leivo** was suspended for two matches due to his absence from the closing ceremony of the 2024/2025 KHL season.

**— How do you view the sanction against Leivo? He didn’t attend the optional part of the season — the ceremony — and is already playing for another team.**
— There needs to be a counterbalance for penalties and other issues. In the NHL, that is the players’ association. Initially, we could arrange something similar with agents, so that the players’ interests are represented when discussing such matters, — Dementyev stated in an interview with Championship correspondent Maxim Makarov.