The first vice-president of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF), head coach of the Russia-25 national team, Roman Rotenberg, suggested that Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin could play at the 2030 Olympic Games and win gold medals.

Russian and Belarusian teams have been suspended from participation in competitions under the auspices of the IIHF since 2022. The 2026 Olympic Games will be held in Italy in February, the 2030 Games will be held in the French Alps.

— How do you react to the news that the Olympics in Milan will be held on an unfinished skating rink?

— I wasn’t there, and it’s hard for me to comment on their infrastructure. I will only say that in Russia we have a lot of excellent hockey infrastructure and wonderful ice. But we cannot influence what is in Milan. We’re not there. And this is on their conscience.

— Aren’t you offended that Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin are deprived of their last chance to win an Olympic medal?

“It’s always a shame when a person is unfairly deprived of a dream.” But what can we do about it? Ovechkin and Malkin are wonderful citizens of Russia, they are wonderfully developing hockey in Russia. We are constantly in touch with them, we communicate, we exchange experiences. Children grow up by their example and fall in love with hockey. And they will definitely play at the Olympics and World Championships. This is our future.

And I don’t agree that this is the last chance for Ovechkin and Malkin. It all depends on how they prepare for the next four years. Perhaps they will be in better shape than today and will play at the 2030 Olympics in France. We need to look forward optimistically and prepare for the 2030 Olympics in order to win gold there,” a Match TV correspondent reports Rotenberg’s words.

In December 2025, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the organization’s executive committee recommended that international federations not restrict the access of athletes from Russia and Belarus to youth competitions in both individual and team disciplines. At the same time, the IOC Executive Committee recommended that international sports federations maintain the current restrictions on the participation of Russian athletes in adult competitions.

The number of Russians at the Olympic Games in Milan continues to increase. Our skiers have already received official invitations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and along with them the speed skaters. So Russian fans will definitely have someone to cheer for in Italy, but this is not the final list yet.

Norwegian skiers, for example, should definitely be very worried.

The IOC is moving in the right direction

The gradual softening of rhetoric on the part of the IOC leadership with the arrival of new president Kirsty Coventry clearly contributed to the admission of Russians to winter sports. Of course, the work of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation and the Russian Olympic Committee, headed by Mikhail Degtyarev, and the efforts of specific federations also played a role. All this together gave the effect that the whole country is now observing.

Following figure skaters Adelia Petrosyan and Petr Gumennik, as well as ski mountaineering representative Nikita Filippov, short track skaters Ivan Posashkov and Alena Krylova received coveted invitations from the IOC. Considering that 1.5 years ago even such situations seemed unrealistic, this was already a victory. Now four more have been added to these athletes.

Finally, star Russian skiers Savely Korostelev and Daria Nepryaeva received final admission to the Games. The specifics of the IOC system work in such a way that it is not enough just to have a neutral status, you must first qualify and then be thoroughly checked by the IOC for compliance with Olympic principles and neutrality. Saveliy and Daria qualified for the Games back in December last year at the World Cup in Davos, but they only received an invitation on January 21.

Daria Nepryaeva / Photo: © Grega Valancic/VOIGT / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Russia has someone to root for

Without a doubt, Korostelev and Nepryaeva are among the leaders of Russian skiing. Saveliy has repeatedly won domestic competitions (four victories at Russian championships), and Daria is the current winner of the Russian Cup. The guys returned to the international level only a month ago, but have already made great progress, repeatedly placing in the top ten in the World Cup and Tour de Ski. The foreign press is confident that our skiers will compete for medals at the Olympics, so it’s time for our Norwegian rivals to start worrying.

On the same day, our speed skaters Ksenia Korzhova and Anastasia Semenova received the green light. The first is the Russian champion at distances of 3000 and 5000 meters. In fact, the 21-year-old athlete became the owner of an Olympic license to perform in Milan in precisely these types of programs. At the national championship, her peer Semenova took bronze in the 1500 m distance and in the mass start, in which she received the coveted license for the Olympics.

Many more Russians in various sports have received neutral status from international federations, which leaves them the opportunity to qualify for the Games in Milan. In some disciplines, unfortunately, the qualifying starts have already ended, but there is a chance that some of ours will still have time to get to Italy in one way or another. In any case, fans in Russia will definitely have someone to worry about. In addition, many of those who received invitations have very real chances to compete for a good result.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry said she was pleased to see warm relations between US President Donald Trump and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino ahead of the World Cup.

In December, Infantino awarded Trump the peace prize, which FIFA established in 2025. This happened during the draw for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup.

“If I hadn’t seen such a relationship, I would have been a little wary.” This is fine. And I am also confident that the closer the 2028 Games get, the closer and closer the relationship between the United States and the IOC will be,” Coventry said during a conversation with reporters.

Match TV will exclusively show all matches of the final stage of the World Cup, which will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026 in the USA, Mexico and Canada. The tournament games will be shown live on Match TV, on thematic channels and digital platforms of the holding.

The Olympic Games in Los Angeles will be held from July 14 to July 30, 2028.