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The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Council has banned Russian and Belarus from competitors for the 2023-24 championship season.
In an announcement launched on Thursday, the IIHF introduced that it reviewed choices for reintegrating the Russian and Belarusian groups. However, resulting from Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the IIHF decided there have been too many dangers for all concerned to include Russia and Belarus presently.
“Based on an in depth danger evaluation from a famend firm that focuses on assessing dangers resulting from varied world challenges, the IIHF Council decided that it isn’t but secure to reincorporate the Russian and Belarusian Teams again into IIHF Competitions, and that it’ll not be secure for the upcoming 2023/2024 IIHF Championship season,” the IIHF mentioned in an announcement. “Therefore, the IIHF will transfer ahead with the 2023/2024 IIHF Championship season with out the Russian and Belarusian Teams.”
That means Russia and Belarus will miss the 2023 males’s championship, which shall be in Finland and Latvia this May, and the 2024 girls’s championship, which can happen within the United States.
The IIHF Council will reevaluate the standing of Russia and Belarus at subsequent 12 months’s council assembly, and president Luc Tardif mentioned the aim is to reintegrate each nations in time to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“First of all, we gave a mandate to the coordination committee to work throughout the 12 months and are available again for a means of integration for Belarusian and Russian groups in our competitors,” Tardif mentioned. “Also, to determine how it may be attainable, if the circumstances are met, to reintegrate them within the means of qualification for the Olympic Games in 2026.”
The International Olympic Committee, then again, is aiming to create a path for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
