On Monday (Feb. 12), the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced that they are upholding the ban on both Russia and Belarus through the 2024-25 season.
Back in February of 2022, the IIHF voted to ban Russia and Belarus from international competitions after Russia invaded Ukraine. With the war still ongoing, they decided to uphold the decision for another season.
Russia and Belarus will not be eligible to play at the men’s and women’s world championships, nor the U18, or U20 World Junior Championship tournaments. Belarus has also been disqualified from the final round of men’s Olympic qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Russia currently holds one of nine spots for the men’s tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics, but whether it will be allowed to participate remains unknown and the IIHF will soon have to decide on whether they will be admitted into the tournament.
Both Russia and Belarus have plenty of talented players who could represent their home country at the next Olympics, but these sanctions could keep them from doing so.
“Based on a thorough analysis, the IIHF Council concluded that it is not yet safe to reincorporate the Russian and Belarusian Teams back into IIHF Competitions”
– IIHF (Russia and Belarus not reincorporated into 2024/2025 IIHF Championship Season)
Russian players Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Nikita Kucherov, and Andrei Vasilevskiy would be the leaders on their team, but may not have the opportunity to play. Looking at their potential roster, they could have been a favorite heading in.
Belarus doesn’t have as much representation at the NHL level, but Yegor Sharangovich, Aliaksei Protas, and Ilya Solovyov would likely be the leaders for their home country.
The IIHF has announced it will determine if it is safe to reincorporate Russia and Belarus for the 2025-2026 Championship season in May, 2025.