On Sunday in Stockholm, before the bronze-medal game, the IIHF held it’s annual press conference to on the final day of the World Championship.

Naturally, questions from the media were dominated by news that was revealed by numerous sources on Friday that Russia won’t be competing in the men’s and women’s ice hockey tournaments.

According to quotes from HockeyNews.se and Hokej.cz, IIHF President Luc Tardif explained that, ultimately, that decision lies with the International Olympic Committee. And while a decision has not officially been made, the IOC has requested that the IIHF send them schedules that do not include Russian teams.

“The IOC is the organizer – we only deal with the competition (the hockey tournaments) itself,” said Tardif. “We have been pressuring them to make a decision, one way or another, because we’re getting closer to the Olympics and we need to know.”

Tardif continued, “Recently they asked us to send them a schedule without Russia, so that’s where we are. The official statement is pending but the IOC has told us that they are informing the Russian Olympic Committee that they are not participating in the Olympics.”

So the IIHF has sent the IOC schedules for the men’s and women’s hockey tournaments that don’t include Russian teams, and we should soon expect to hear from the IOC that Russian teams won’t be allowed to participate. 

  Photo: Russian players wearing "ROC" jerseys at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing © George Walker IV-Imagn Images

Russia Excluded From 2026 Olympic Ice Hockey Tournaments Numerous international media outlets are reporting that the International Ice Hockey Federation has made the decision to ban Russian teams from competing in the men’s and women’s ice hockey tournaments at the Olympic Winter Games next February in Milan, Italy. The decision was reportedly made at Friday’s annual congress in Stockholm, Sweden.