IIHF Bans Russia, Belarus from International Hockey Tournaments Until Further Notice

Both Russia and Belarus have been dealt a massive blow on the international stage. 

The IIHF announced on Monday evening that the federation has banned Russia and Belarus from international play until further notice.

This includes the men's and women's World Championship, the U-18 World Championship and the rescheduled World Junior Championship and U-18 women's World Championship.

Russia also was stripped of the 2023 World Junior Championship hosting duties, a tournament both Russia and Belarus are scheduled to participate in.

"The IIHF is not a political entity and cannot influence the decisions being taken over the war in Ukraine," said IIHF president Luc Tardiff in a statement. 

"We nevertheless have a duty of care to all of our members and participants and must do all we can to ensure that we are able to operate our events in a safe environment for all teams taking part in the IIHF world championship program."

The IIHF will announce plans involving relegation, promotion and other such matters at a later date.

The Russian men's national team is currently third on the IIHF's international rankings, while the women's national team is ranked fourth. 

Playing under the Olympic Athletes of Russia banner, the country gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and a silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Games as the Russian Olympic Committee.  

Outside of IIHF jurisdiction, Russia will not participate in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup in Alberta, a tournament it won last year. Russia will also not be invited to the Euro Hockey Tour tournament in May.

Belarus, ranked 14th in the world, has been a top division team at the men's World Championship level for most of the past 15 years. They were relegated in 2018 before making it back to the top for the 2021 tournament. Had relegation been enacted upon in 2021, they would have been relegated in time for the 2022 tournament. Belarus also earned a promotion to the 2023 World Junior Championship after winning the 2022 Division IA event in December. 

Belarus does not have a women's national team program and doesn't feature in the IIHF rankings.

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Affected Events

2022 IIHF Continental Cup (4-6 March 2022)
-Belarus club team HK Gomel would not participate

2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship (21 April-01 May 2022)
-Russia and Belarus men’s U18 teams would not participate

2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship (13-29 May 2022)
-ROC and Belarus men’s national teams would not participate

2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship (Dates TBD)
-Russia women’s U18 national team would not participate

2022 IIHF World Junior Championship (Dates TBD)
-Russia men’s U20 national teams would not participate

2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship (26 August-4 September 2022)
-ROC women’s national team would not participate