Paolo Zampolli used what turned out to be his final day as a US special envoy to lay out a plan for American-Russian sports diplomacy built around a hockey legends exhibition and a football friendly between the two national teams.
Speaking to the Russian state news agency TASS, the former envoy for Global Partnerships framed the proposals as practical openings rather than symbolic gestures.
“President Trump understands that sport can reopen doors that politics has kept closed,” he told the agency.
Zampolli said hockey was the obvious starting point, since Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had already discussed the idea in a March 2025 phone call that briefly flirted with staging matches between NHL and KHL players.
“I would particularly like to explore a USA-Russia Hockey Legends event.”
“Great American champions. Great Russian champions. The athletes people grew up watching.”
He proposed wrapping the event in coaching clinics, youth exchanges and meetings between academies, with retired players serving as goodwill ambassadors.
On football, Zampolli told TASS he would welcome an international friendly between the two national teams in coordination with FIFA and the relevant federations, and said he would be willing to travel to Moscow if “something useful can be accomplished.”
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Russian flag back at the Paralympics
Zampolli also endorsed the return of Russian national symbols at major events, citing the 14th Winter Paralympic Games in Italy from 6 to 15 March 2026.
Six Russian athletes competed under their flag and anthem in Milan and Cortina for the first time since 2014, finishing third in the medal standings with eight gold medals, one silver and three bronze.
“The return of the Russian flag and anthem for Paralympians in Italy was a meaningful step, and I welcomed it. I am optimistic that continued progress can create a credible route toward fuller Russian participation at Los Angeles 2028.”
The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee in July 2026, but has not yet ruled on whether the flag and anthem will be allowed in Los Angeles.
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Dismissed the same day
The TASS pieces carrying the interview were published on 15 October. On the same day, a US official confirmed to The Daily Beast that Zampolli had been notified his status as envoy had been terminated and that he was no longer a government employee.
The removal followed a months-long dispute with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who in November 2025 ordered Zampolli to stop all work not directly tied to cultural diplomacy.
Zampolli has characterised his departure as a return to business rather than a dismissal, saying the envoy appointment had been for one year.
A legends match without official backing
The NHL suspended its dealings with the KHL in March 2022, and the International Ice Hockey Federation has kept Russia out of its tournaments since. A legends event with retired players sits outside both those structures, which is why the proposal was built around them in the first place.
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Alex Ovechkin, who has confirmed that 2026-27 will be his last NHL season, is the most prominent name any Russian legends roster would be built around. The all-time NHL goal leader turned 41 last month and signed a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals in July.
The State Department has not announced a successor to Zampolli.
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