{"id":4460,"date":"2026-07-31T00:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T00:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/4460\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T00:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T00:17:07","slug":"russia-belarus-remain-barred-from-mens-world-championship-as-iihf-extends-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/4460\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia, Belarus remain barred from men\u2019s World Championship as IIHF extends ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Russia’s Maxim Groshev (28), Ilya Safonov (24) and Roman Bychkov (7) celebrate a goal against Finland during the 2021 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship bronze medal game in Edmonton.JASON FRANSON\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Russia and Belarus will remain excluded from most major international ice hockey tournaments next season, the sport\u2019s world governing body said on Thursday, citing \u201congoing safety, security and sporting integrity concerns\u201d.<\/p>\n

The decision means Russia\u2019s teams will not compete in IIHF events during the 2026-27 season, including the men\u2019s World Championship, World Junior Championship and the men\u2019s and women\u2019s Under-18 World Championships.<\/p>\n

Belarus also remains barred from the World Junior Championship, although the IIHF had previously announced plans to reintegrate the country in some lower-level competitions, including the men\u2019s and women\u2019s under-18 events and Women\u2019s Division IV World Championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with the event-by-event approach established, the eligibility of Russia at the IIHF Women\u2019s World Championship 2027 will be reviewed separately by the IIHF Council in November 2026, taking into account the circumstances and risk assessment applicable at that time,\u201d the governing body said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Russian ice hockey federation, in a statement on its website, said it would appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).<\/p>\n

The Federation said it \u201cneither accepts nor understands the IIHF\u2019s shortsighted position, which ignores the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee and goes against the idea of sport, meant to bring people together worldwide\u201d.<\/p>\n

Russia and Belarus have been excluded from IIHF competitions since Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Belarus sanctioned for its support of Moscow\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n

The IIHF in May said it would assess Russia\u2019s participation in the 2026-27 season on an event-by-event basis.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s announcement follows a January ruling barring Russia\u2019s teams from international competitions at all levels, which was later annulled after an appeal by the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.<\/p>\n

The continued suspension means Russian players, including those competing in the NHL, are still unable to represent their country in IIHF tournaments. Russia was also excluded from this year\u2019s Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n

The decision contrasts with a recent easing of restrictions by the International Olympic Committee, which provisionally lifted its ban on the Russian Olympic Committee earlier this month, a move seen as a step towards Russia\u2019s gradual return to the Olympic movement ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Games.<\/p>\n

The Russian Ice Hockey Federation, in a statement on its website, said it would appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).<\/p>\n

The IOC\u2019s move followed its December recommendation that international federations readmit Russian and Belarusian athletes under the age of 23, signalling a broader shift towards reintegration in some sports.<\/p>\n

Russia has won five International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship titles as an independent nation. The next edition of the men\u2019s World Championship will be hosted in Germany in May. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Russia’s Maxim Groshev (28), Ilya Safonov (24) and Roman Bychkov (7) celebrate a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[469,454,470,290,444,471,218,443,460,461,457,445,442,466,467,465,459,452,482,446,447,379,455,456,449,472,450,477,478,480,475,479,473,476,448,463,464,62,462,474,453,109,468,458,451,64,481],"class_list":["post-4460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}