Russian hockey giants Dynamo Moscow raided by police

Ice hockey club Dynamo Moscow said on Friday (2 June) that they had been raided by police, the latest twist in a bitter dispute over their finances.

Officers from an anti-fraud and corruption squad arrived late Thursday at Dynamo's offices and seized financial documents, the club said.

According to the club, the raid was prompted by an allegation of embezzlement by an employee of the club's training base, made in a letter by a senior executive of the Dynamo sports society. The society owns the club and has been in dispute with its management.

The club said it was cooperating with police, but suggested the corruption complaint was being used as "a means of putting pressure" on the club.

Dynamo was until recently one of Russia's top hockey teams with backing from billionaire former club president Arkady Rotenberg, and won the Kontinental Hockey League in 2012 and 2013.

Since Rotenberg left in 2015, the club has experienced cash shortages, and relations with the Dynamo sports society's leadership have become tense.

Last month, society head Vladimir Strzhalkovsky told Russian media the club racked up debts of around 2 billion rubles ($35m).