The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has announced that Belarus will be reinstated for competition beginning next season per Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff. The announcement came during the organization’s annual congress held in Zurich, Switzerland this week. Belarus has been barred from international competition since 2021 due to their involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement, the IIHF said:
This decision was not taken lightly. The safety and well-being of players, officials, fans, volunteers, and all participants remains our highest priority. Based on the assessments conducted and ongoing consultations with relevant stakeholders, we believe this can be done in a safe, responsible, and controlled manner.
No update was provided on Russia’s eligibility for IIHF tournaments. In a statement, the Russian Hockey Federation acknowledged their partnership with the IIHF to work back towards tournament eligibility while also noting that their ban remains in place.
Belarus’ last participation in an IIHF tournament was at the 2022 World Junior Championship Division-1A tournament. They won the tournament with a 5-0-0 record and 26-to-eight goal differential. Their roster was laden with NHL talent. Top draft pick Artyom Levshunov led a group that also featured forwards Vitali Pinchuk and Yegor Sidorov, defensemen Dmitri Kuzmin and Daniil Karpovich, and goaltender Aleksei Kolosov. Belarus was suspended from IIHF competition following this tournament and Latvia – the Silver Medal winners – were promoted in their place.
Belarus appears set to join the top division of the World U18 Championship, but the second division of the World Championship, ahead of the IIHF’s 2027 tournaments. The country will bring a high-powered roster to the men’s tournament, while also boasting a chance to showcase their top draft-eligible prospects next season.
Just reinstate Russia already. These players have nothing to do with the crazy old man running their country. It seems absolutely ludicrous that Russia continues to face a ban while the United States has invaded Venezuela and Iran since the war in Ukraine began, with no consequence. And that Israel continues to stay without penalty despite perpetuating what most global observers clearly state is a genocide.
If you are going to have penalties, apply them equally.
You never miss an opportunity to inject your leftism into any hockey discussion. There’s plenty of social media sites to do that on.
I didn’t know that stating reality was a left/right issue.
When the good guys do it, it’s OK. When the bad guys do it, it’s not ok. The left/right thing is just a proxy for people who can’t seem to understand that good and bad are subjective. There is no material difference between some of the stated examples above, but there is a material difference in the hockey world. The only politics here is the inequitable punishment of Russian players by the IIHF for something they haven’t done.
We also “invaded” Germany. Maybe the IIHF should take action retroactively against us.
Straw man fallacy. You won’t get this defense across the line with logic because the situation is illogical by nature.
“Situation is illogical by nature” I can agree with.