today 09:32
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Russian and Belarusian hockey players will not even perform at next year’s World Championships, which will take place in Tampere and Riga from 12 to 28 May 2023. At the International Congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), delegates decided to “freeze” their participation in all world championships.
As early as February, the IIHF followed a recommendation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and suspended both countries until further notice, in response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. It also took place from the territory of Belarus. The exclusion applies to Russian and Belarusian national teams in all ages and all IIHF competitions.
In addition, St. Petersburg was deprived of the right to organize World Cup 2023. At World Cup 2022 in Tampere and Helsinki, the excluded countries were replaced by France and Austria. Now it is certain that the Russians and Belarusians will not play in the World Cup for a year. At the annual congress in Tampere, delegates approved the IIHF Council’s proposal to freeze their participation.
“From the beginning we tried to adapt to the situation. We waited for the suspension to be extended as long as possible, we hoped to improve the situation, but it didn’t happen. At the moment we couldn’t do anything else.” IIHF President Luc Tardif said at a press conference in Tampere.
He also mentioned the logistical difficulties resulting from the exclusion of both countries, which affected the composition of the World Cup tournaments and the designation of relegating and advancing teams. According to him, the return of Russia and Belarus to the World Cup will bring the same challenges. In the future, when the IIHF withdraws the suspension, both countries should return to the elite MS category.
The Russian and Belarusian hockey federations have both criticized the IIHF verdict. “We do not agree with the decision to freeze the participation of the Russian national team in the World Cup in 2023. There is no legal basis for such a verdict.” quoted insidethegames.biz from the opinion of the Russian Hockey Federation.
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