3 athletes affected

Naturalization fixed! Reinforcement for the national team

Atte Tolvanen(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Austria's national ice hockey team is getting the long-awaited reinforcement in the goalkeeper position. The Finn Atte Tolvanen, goalkeeper for champions Red Bull Salzburg, has been granted citizenship.

This was decided last week by the Council of Ministers by circular resolution. Other naturalizations include national team speed skater Anna Molnar and Iranian-born Olympic refugee athlete Saman Soltani.

Anna Molnar(Bild: GEPA pictures/ Jasmin Walter)

Eligible to play immediately
Tolvanen has been playing for Salzburg since the fall of 2021 and has been one of the best goalkeepers in the league ever since. The 30-year-old has won the championship title three times in a row with the Red Bulls and was voted the most valuable player (MVP) of the play-offs in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons. Having played for a domestic club for more than two consecutive years, he is immediately eligible to play for the Austrian national team, which is thin at the goalkeeper position.

Molnar, who previously competed for Romania, has been playing for Austria's national team for years, including appearances at World Cups, European Championships and Junior World Championships. The 23-year-old could now also be selected for the Olympic Games. The 28-year-old Soltani already has the Olympics behind her; the Iranian-born athlete competed at this year's Paris Games as a flat-water canoeist in the refugee team. Her naturalization virtually follows that of Aker Schmid. As Iraqi Aker Al Obaidi, the wrestler competed in the 2021 Refugee Team at the Tokyo Games before being granted citizenship.