IIHF reaches controversial decision on the future of banned teams

Today, during one of its regularly scheduled meetings, the IIHF Council reviewed the current safety risks associated with reincorporating the Russian and the Belarusian National and Club Teams into Competitions. Based on a thorough analysis, the llHF Council concluded that it is not yet safe to reincorporate the Russian and Belarusian Teams back into HF Competitions. Therefore, Russia and Belarus will not participate in the 2024/2025 IIHF championship season. This decision will also apply to the Belarusian team regarding the Final Olympic Qualification Round that will be played in August 2024.

As it has been done over the past years, the IIHF Council will continue to monitor the situation, with the latest date to determine if it is safe to reincorporate Russia and Belarus for the 2025/2026 Championship season in May 2025 at the IIHF Council meeting ahead of the llHF Annual Congress.

«The NHLPA has had productive communications with the IIHF regarding its efforts to ensure Israeli National Teams will continue to fully participate in international hockey competitions. We remain engaged with the IIHF and others in this process until the matter is resolved.»