While Russian and Belarusian national and club teams won't be reintegrated into IIHF championships in 2026-27, the IIHF will consider reintegrating U-18 players in 2027-28.
Russian and Belarusian teams won't be in International Ice Hockey Federation competitions in 2026-27.
The IIHF Council made the decision after a detailed risk assessment and meeting this week. Current security conditions don't meet the requirements for organizing tournaments with Russian and Belarusian teams that guarantee everyone's safety, the IIHF said in its announcement Thursday.
Teams from Russia and Belarus haven't been allowed to compete in IIHF competition since the council voted to exclude them in February 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. If the war continues in February, it will mark four years since it began.
Although the ban on Russia and Belarus remains in place this season, the IIHF said its council will consider reintegrating youth players, aged 17 and under, from the Russian and Belarusian national and club teams into its championships in 2027-28. If security and safety risks decline sufficiently over the coming months, the IIHF said it will work with the relevant national associations on reintegration at the youth level.
"As the safety and security of all participants and the proper organization of each event remain a clear priority, the IIHF must ensure that these requirements are guaranteed for every tournament," the federation said in a statement. "The IIHF will continue to closely monitor the evolving situation and conduct ongoing safety risk analyses."
The Russian Ice Hockey Federation announced on Thursday it plans to appeal the IIHF's decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In 2018, Kirill Kaprizov, pictured, and Team Olympic Athletes from Russia captured gold in men's hockey. They weren't called Team Russia due to a doping scandal. (Geoff Burke-Imagn Images)Russia and Belarus were already not allowed to compete as teams at the 2026 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee ruled last September. Whoever participates from those countries must do so as an individual athlete, not as a representative of their country. Plus, Team Belarus was ineligible to participate in the final round of Olympic hockey qualifying.
Now, they're ruled out of the 2026 men's and women's World Championships, the 2027 world juniors, U-18 championships and any club competitions.
The highest-scoring Russian NHL players so far this season are Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov, Artemi Panarin, Alex Ovechkin and Ivan Demidov. On the women's side, the PWHL has two Russian players: Fanuza Kadirova and Anna Shokhina.
Five players from Belarus have appeared in the NHL this season: Aliaksei Protas, Artyom Levshunov, Yegor Sharangovich, Vladislav Kolyachonok and Ilya Solovyov.
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