The fallout from Alexander Ovechkin‘s appearance in a United Russia campaign video has now reached Congress. Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina, sent a letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday calling the Washington Capitals captain’s participation “shameful” and asking the league to look into it. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis was copied on the letter.
Ovechkin doesn’t speak in the ad. He appears standing behind Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a campaign clip released ahead of Russia’s September 18-20 parliamentary elections, alongside Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the state-controlled network RT.
Alexander Ovechkin backlash
Notably, Wilson’s letter doesn’t call for Ovechkin to be suspended or fined. What he’s asking for is an explanation of whether the NHL has any policy covering active players who appear in political advertising for foreign parties, and a statement clarifying that Ovechkin’s participation doesn’t reflect the position of the league or the team.
“While Mr. Ovechkin has every right to hold personal political views, actively participating in campaign material for Putin’s oppressive party while serving as the captain of an NHL franchise in our nation’s capital raises serious questions about the standards expected of players who represent the League and their communities,” Wilson wrote.
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His public comments have been considerably blunter than the letter itself.
“It is incredibly alarming that the NHL and the Capitals have allowed Alexander Ovechkin to appear in a campaign advertisement supporting the party of war criminal Putin,” Wilson wrote on X. “American hockey fans deserve better leadership from their star players!”
Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Wilson was asked how the situation differs from an American athlete backing a US politician.
“The difference is that the American politician is not a mass murderer,” he said. “Now, we can all disagree. There is a right to free speech, of course, but there should also be consequences of being associated in promoting a war criminal.”
Capitals’ response
Wilson did not specify what those consequences should be, and twice declined to say directly whether he wants Ovechkin suspended. He said he has not heard back from the NHL but is willing to give the league time to respond.
His letter also points out that the wider United Russia campaign features Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for both Lvova-Belova and Vladimir Putin in 2023 over the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territory. Wilson has repeatedly described Putin as a “convicted war criminal,” though neither Putin nor Lvova-Belova has been convicted by the court.
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The Capitals have already addressed the ad in a statement to Reuters, saying Ovechkin “was asked by his country to participate in a video campaign” while spending the offseason in Russia. The team has not said who actually approached him, and did not answer questions about whether anyone in the organization knew about it in advance or signed off on it.
The NHL has not responded to questions about the letter, the advertisement or its policies on political activity by players. Ovechkin declined to comment through the Capitals.
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