“A great hockey power, a lot is lost without it”: IIHF agreed on the principles for the return of the Russian national team

On the issue of the future return of the Russian national hockey team to the world stage, certainty is gradually beginning to appear.

A semi-annual IIHF congress was held in Turkey, following which the principles of a possible restoration of the national team among the participants in international tournaments were formulated.

And although not all countries shared the position of the federation, the vast majority still approved the initiative.

According to the IIHF verdict, in the event of a return, the adult, youth and junior teams of Russia will retain their positions and will be able to avoid the need to break into the top division from the very bottom.

The federation decided that domestic hockey players will automatically be identified in the elite group and take the place of rivals in it, waiting for a reduction in class.

The same applies to Belarus, also suspended from tournaments due to the situation in Ukraine.

At the same time, the final date for making a decision on the admission of teams to the competition is the day of the last game of the group stage of the corresponding World Hockey Championship in order to have time to prepare a tournament program for the annual IIHF congress (in 2023 it will be held in Tampere on May 25-27).

Thus, the decision on the national teams of Russia and Belarus should be made by May 23, and the teams will miss the 2023 World Cup for sure.

The absolute majority of the delegates of the semi-annual congress positively perceived the intention to document the mechanism for the restoration of Russia and Belarus in their rights.

98 out of 119 IIHF members supported this initiative.

According to the FHR, ten delegates voted against, 11 abstained.

According to Sport-Express, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Great Britain and Ukraine opposed.

On the one hand, the intention of the IIHF to formulate these principles may indicate that the organization is already beginning to think about the restoration of Russia and Belarus in their rights, and are beginning to prepare the ground for this.

However, there was no official confirmation from the International Ice Hockey Federation.

According to its president, Luc Tardif, this is currently out of the question.

“Let's be clear: this decision does not mean the return of the teams of Russia and Belarus to the competitions of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Congress needed to make this decision so that IIHF members could understand the conditions for the future reintegration of these countries into the program.

The IIHF Council will continue to monitor developments in Ukraine,” Tardif said.

Nevertheless, in Russia, this news was considered positive and expressed the opinion that this was the beginning of the path to the return of the teams to the tournaments.

According to the legendary striker, and now a special representative of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR) in the IIHF Pavel Bure, a lot of work has been done during negotiations with the international organization.

“We welcome that Congress voted for such a decision - the principles for Russia's return to the international arena have been determined.

While we do not know when this return will take place, but we see that our team is very much expected back, ”the FHR press service quotes Bure.

At the same time, Vladislav Tretyak, head of the FHR, was not surprised by the final distribution of votes at the congress.

He noted that such unanimity was not a surprise for him, and also suggested when the teams would be able to perform again at the largest forums.

“We all know how the world actually treats the Russian team.

Of course, we expect that we will be returned from 2024, we will do everything possible for this.

We continue to work on a daily basis.

The system of combined teams functions as usual.

Our coaches, players, specialists are ready to take part in any international tournament even tomorrow,” said Tretyak.

The news was received with enthusiasm in the Russian hockey community.

Two-time Olympic champion Boris Mikhailov called the approval of the principles a "positive sign", and also criticized the representatives of the countries that voted "no".

“I think that some more time will pass, everyone will come to their senses and will do everything possible so that the Russian teams return to all international competitions.

And these ten are not worth talking about.

Those who follow the international situation know them, they are short-sighted people who have problems with their heads.

The majority understand the situation, they put sports out of politics, which pleases.

The question of when to return to international competitions is not for me, but for a fortune teller.

I would like it to happen tomorrow, but my desire is not enough.

The people who vote against should wake up," TASS quoted Mikhailov as saying.

The former head coach of the national team, Vyacheslav Bykov, also expressed his hope to see Russian hockey players at the World Championships soon.

At the same time, he admitted that he was somewhat surprised by the verdict of Congress.

“Maybe here the mind of international leaders prevailed, because the development and evolution of hockey to some extent depends on the participants who contribute to this development.

Russia is a great hockey power: a lot is lost without it, ”the Championship specialist quotes.

In turn, the owner of the Stanley Cup in the Colorado Avalanche Valery Kamensky admitted that the decision of the IIHF did not surprise him.

In his opinion, first of all, it is due to the place that domestic hockey occupies in the hierarchy.

“If there are disagreements, then doubts arise from this.

But most sane people understand that without Russia, hockey, world hockey goes out.

Fans from different countries go to watch Russia.

And in general, the national team is in the first places in the ranking, ”said Kamensky in a comment to the Vprognoze portal.

According to the former coach of the Russian national team Vladimir Plushev, the approval of the principles can insure the domestic team from all sorts of fraud if it is restored in status.

“There was talk that we would have to play in the lower divisions.

When everything settles down, we will be able to play in the elite again, it could not be otherwise.

I don’t know what this decision is connected with, especially since they have seven Fridays a week there, there is no special logic.

In any case, it is obvious that the Russian team ... has always been included in a not very large elite list, has never been below the waterline.

Which proves the decision made, ”RIA Novosti quotes Plushev.