The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) intends to reconsider allowing Russian and Belarusian teams to participate in tournaments under the organization’s auspices next spring, the IIHF chief said. Luc Tardif .
On Wednesday, it was announced that the IIHF Council had extended the suspension of teams from Russia and Belarus for the 2023/24 season.
– The return of Russian and Belarusian athletes was the most important topic of discussion. To reassess the situation and make a decision again, we needed the help of a professional company. This is necessary to analyze the risks and the impact (possible return) from a security point of view.
The discussion and analysis of professional advice has led to the idea that it is too early to reintegrate teams into our competitions. We asked the steering committee to present a proposal in the spring of next year and to work on the issue of the return of the teams not only to the World Cup, but also to the Olympic qualifications, which will start next summer.
We felt that the risk to the safety of players, our employees, fans, is too great. Next time the question of return will be considered in the spring of next year.
We had negotiations with the IOC. The IOC Executive Committee will be held at the end of March, where the admission conditions for Russians and Belarusians will be discussed. The competition is on now, we need to know which teams will play next season, Tardif said in a video interview released by the IIHF press service.
The IIHF on February 28, 2022 suspended the Russian and Belarusian teams from participating in competitions under its auspices due to the situation in Ukraine.
Source : MatchTV
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