“We actively discussed this weekend and also met with the President of the International Hockey Federation, Luc Tardiff. On behalf of the Finnish Federation, we demand the complete exclusion of Russia and Belarus from international hockey activities and do not intend to play against the national teams.
He also said that it was not possible for Russia and Belarus to start at the world championships, which will take place in May in Helsinki and Tampere. Belarus should be one of the rivals of the Czech team in the basic group B in Tampere.
The Finns, together with representatives of Czech and Swedish hockey, are currently negotiating the exclusion of Russia from the Euro Hockey Tour tournaments.
The president of the Czech Ice Hockey Association, Tomáš Král, said last week that the choir will probably not start at the Czech Hockey Games, which will take place at the turn of April and May. The union’s executive committee discusses the Czech position at an extraordinary meeting on Monday. The king announced that he supported the cancellation of bilateral national events with the participation of Russian hockey players.
The management of the international federation will also discuss the next steps on Monday afternoon. “Given that the IIHF has a duty to care for all participants in its tournaments, the IIHF Council is reviewing and considering the implications of this conflict for our actions,” the federation said. The Junior World Championships and the Senior World Championships 2023 are to take place in Russia at the turn of the year.
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