As expected, Russia and Belarus will be absent from world hockey championships next year as well. Nobody knows when and under what conditions he will return. However, a scenario that makes the choirs nervous is possible.
“We believed that the situation would improve. That’s why we waited the longest as long as possible. But no change came and we had to come to a clear conclusion before the next season. This means that Russia and Belarus will no longer participate in our tournaments,” he said. head of the International Hockey Federation Luc Tardif.
He pointed out that Vladimir Putin, with the support of Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarusian ally, was still leading the invasion of Ukraine. It was because of her that the IIHF eliminated both Eastern countries from all tournaments at the end of February, including the ongoing World Cup in Finland.
Later, Russia lost its organization of the World Cup in May next year. The event will be taken over again by Tampere, Finland, together with Riga, Latvia, where the championship took place a year ago.
The IIHF has not yet addressed the conditions under which Russia and Belarus will return to their tournaments. “It will be a dilemma,” Tardif admitted. “But I hope it will be possible as soon as possible, because it would mean that the situation regarding the conflict is better.”
Both alienations have maintained their position in the current world rankings. However, the IIHF did not specify the logic on which this happened. In the future, however, there may be a deep decline.
It would be spicy especially for the choir, which is used to the top of the rankings. Would he have to play a “flat” or “flat” world championship due to his low position?
“Russia is clearly an elite group in sports. If we placed it in the fourth division, we would devalue those tournaments for five years,” said Petr Bříza, the first vice-president of world hockey.
Another option is a temporary extension of the “A” championship from 16 to 18 participants. “Of course, it would have an impact on the calendar, the draw or the length of the tournament,” Bříza listed the problems associated with this option.
At the IIHF Congress, according to the Russian daily Sport-Express, several unions, such as the Estonian, supported the idea that the choir would start in a lower division when it returned. Historically, Slovaks, for example, had to undergo it after the disintegration of the common state with the Czech Republic.
“If this short-sighted proposal passes, it will be possible to form an opinion that there are hopelessly stupid people in the leadership of the IIHF,” said Mikhail Zislis of Sport-Express.
“In the current situation, however, it is likely that Russia and Belarus will really play with the Ukrainians or Estonians. Incomprehensible,” he added, referring to the teams that played up to the third highest level of the world championship this year.
The legendary Soviet defender Vyacheslav Fetisov was not pleased with the possible future of the union. “Do they want to humiliate us even more? I see that something like this should not pass under any circumstances,” he said.
Zislis believes that the return of Russian hockey players to the international scene could come at the World Cup 2024, which traditionally does not host the IIHF, but the overseas NHL. “It’s hard to imagine that a business-based league can afford to ignore Russian superstars,” he wrote.
