“They are afraid of competition”: FHR considered the extension of Russia’s disqualification as discrimination on the part of the IIHF

Last year, to some extent, turned out to be a breakthrough for Russian sports, because in some types of domestic athletes were still allowed to participate in international competitions, albeit in a neutral status. A trip for a group of athletes to the 2024 Olympics in Paris has not yet been ruled out.

But in hockey, unfortunately, there is still not the slightest breakthrough. This was confirmed by the decision of the international federation to allow the national teams of Russia and Belarus to skip the 2024/25 season.

“During one of its regular meetings, the IIHF Council reviewed the current security risks associated with the return of Russian and Belarusian national teams and clubs to competitions. Based on a thorough analysis, the council came to the conclusion that it is not yet safe for these teams to return to the IIHF tournament lineup,” the document says.

The international federation said that they will monitor the situation and decide in May 2025 whether national teams will return in the 2025/26 season.

At the same time, the 2026 Games are held as a separate line. The head of the federation, Luc Tardif, said that the final verdict on them will be made in February-March next year. He urged not to link the fate of the national team with any other agreements. 

“When the IIHF reached an agreement on the Olympics with the NHL, the issue of Russia and Belarus was not even raised. This does not depend on either the NHL or the IOC. This is solely the decision of the IIHF,” the Match TV functionary quotes.

Some representatives of European states even managed to rejoice at the verdict. Thus, the Chairman of the Swedish Hockey Federation Anders Larsson supported the extension of restrictions and considered it absolutely necessary in the current situation.

The FHR, on the contrary, called the sanctions discriminatory and did not rule out lobbying for such a step by competitors who do not want the return of a strong rival.

“The meeting of the IIHF Council was held without the participation of Russian representatives... Arguments about “security” do not meet with understanding - in parallel with the suspension of Russia and Belarus, teams from countries involved in armed conflicts continue to participate in international tournaments,” says the FHR Telegram channel.

Although one Russian was still at the meeting. We are talking about Pavel Bur, who is a member of the organization’s board. However, according to the world and European champion, as soon as the discussion of the relevant topic began, he was simply disconnected from the online connection.

“Admission to the Olympics will be discussed at the IIHF meeting in the spring of 2025. Most likely, I will not be allowed to participate in the discussion again. At such moments, Russia is constantly deprived of the right to vote... There is simply no discussion here,” he complained.

KHL President Alexey Morozov also expressed disappointment with what happened. He emphasized that the participation of the domestic national team significantly increased the level of the tournaments. The manager considers another key problem in the current circumstances to be the lack of opportunity for talented young people to prove themselves.

“For young players, the MFM has become an excellent chance to express themselves to the whole world, and for countries to show whose school will lead in world hockey in the coming years. We can only hope that the injustice will be corrected, and the IIHF will find options for our and Belarusian teams to compete at the world championship,” the Championship quotes Morozov.

The State Duma also responded to the extension of restrictions. The Chairman of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, Dmitry Svishchev, remained disappointed and outraged by the wording pointed out by the IIHF - difficulties in ensuring safety.

“We have a lot of hockey players in the NHL, in unfriendly countries, they calmly perform there and are stars. Alas, this decision is not in favor of domestic hockey... There is no need to panic. It is necessary to conduct a dialogue with the federation in order to defend the interests of our and Belarusian athletes. So that they return to the international arena as quickly as possible,” Svishchev noted.

In the world of domestic hockey, the IIHF verdict also caused indignation. For example, the former head coach of the Russian national team, Vyacheslav Bykov, suggested that the higher authorities are waiting for the go-ahead from overseas, but it has not yet arrived. At the same time, he expressed hope that the participation of Russians in the 2026 Olympic Games will promote the NHL.

Another ex-mentor of the national team, Vladimir Plyushchev, did not see anything sensational in what happened.

“It’s hard to expect anything different from people acting on orders. But it’s too early to guess whether we will be allowed to the Olympics. There, the mood changes depending on the temperature... There is no need to expect anything from them, you need to mind your own business,” the specialist emphasized.

World champion Maxim Sushinsky completely agreed with him. “This was 100% expected. What has changed compared to last year? Nothing. Something can happen here at any moment. Today it’s like this, and tomorrow it’s different. That is, as they are told from above, they will change their attitude... It’s not about sports,” Match TV quotes him.

And former Russian national team striker Evgeny Artyukhin did not rule out the FHR version of lobbying for non-admission by European competitors.

“It’s clear that the Finns and Swedes are happy. But the suspension will end anyway, we will return. The most important thing is that we have young people growing up, a good generation. First of all, I feel sorry for them; the guys are deprived of the opportunity to prove themselves at the international level. But we are hostages of this situation. I hope everything will get better and we will play,” Artyukhin said.

Finally, as usual, two-time Olympic champion Alexander Kozhevnikov spoke extremely harshly.

“We need to be patient and wait. This decision is pure politics, a conspiracy. They are scoundrels. They mixed everything that was purest in sports with politics. What they laid down in the foundations of the development of sports, they themselves destroyed. But we will never be slaves, it is not in the blood of the Russian people. Therefore, we have nowhere to go - we will win,” he noted in a conversation with RIA Novosti.