The day before at the IIHF congress, among other decisions, the Russian team was deprived of the right to play at the 2023 World Championship. First it was taken from St. Petersburg, the Latvians and Finns were appointed as organizers, and then they showed. “stop” sign to our team. There will be no Russian team in MFM-2023, which was originally expected to be held in Novosibirsk and Omsk. The two Siberian cities have been replaced by Canada’s Halifax and Moncton, and the adults’ world championship will be held in Tampere and Riga.

To begin with, I would like to point out how few people want to host the annual international hockey tournament. Hungary and Slovenia, which were considering hosting the 2023 World Cup, finally stepped back. st. Petersburg will replace cities that have hosted World Cup matches for the past two years. That is, the IIHF is forced to go through the second or even the third round, in the absence of other applications. Not only is hockey a highly represented sport in a small number of countries, even fewer are willing to spend money on it.

In this context, Russia is “always ready!” lived in mode. If necessary, we will build new stadiums specifically for the World Junior Championships. If necessary, six years ago St. We will repair the old one, as with the Yubileiny in St. Petersburg. Money is traditionally not donated for organizing international tournaments in our country. A very convenient location for the IIHF. Now, with Russia temporarily or untimely removed from the bracket of the world hockey family, it turns out that the wealthy countries ready to spend the money of sponsors and taxpayers on the puck are a number or two. Europe. And the adult world championships for Canadians and Americans were not particularly interesting before.

“Isn’t the level of the World Cup very high without a Russian team? That’s true. The absence of such a big country does not benefit tournaments this big. That’s why I’m always ready and doing everything to keep in touch with the federations.”, – says the head of the IIHF Luc Tardif. And then his organization extends the ban of Russia and Belarus for another season. Where is the logic here? Or is it just hypocrisy? Many saw inconsistency in the actions of the new head of the international federation. But if we imagine that Russia is here and now it is back to the world hockey family … No, it is impossible to imagine.

“The removal of the Russian team from the tournament is a decision that ensures the safety and integrity of the championship. I can’t imagine now that the Russians can participate in the tournaments. Imagine 18-year-olds being escorted by security guards and a SWAT unit to take them to the arena. This is not a function of sport”, — Considering IIHF First Vice-President Petr Brzhiza. Contentious? But isn’t the Czech right about one thing? The attitude of Europeans towards Russia and Russian athletes is fair or unfair, but that is what happened. And we must start with the facts, not the misconception that when we snap our fingers, our hockey players will react the way they used to.

Passing the next World Cup in Kazakhstan or even Switzerland, which will host the tournament in 2026, one can still talk about the theoretical participation of Russia. Yet Latvia and Finland are almost the loudest critics of Russian policy. These countries are withdrawing their athletes from the KHL, and they certainly do not want to see hockey players playing at home under the Russian flag. And it’s not just that there is a high risk of provocation or even direct aggression. Trite from matches with the Russian national team, the opponent may refuse to play. In this case, the World Cup will simply be blocked. If the absence of a top IIHF team can survive, the mass exodus of participants will bring world hockey to the brink of destruction.

There is an opinion that 18-20-year-old men should not be blamed for absolutely anything and their state should not be responsible for their actions. They did not go to the polls, did not join any organization, did not speak publicly about the situation in Ukraine. So why do Russia’s youth and youth teams suffer as much as adults? And here it is right to return to the words of Brzhiza. As contradictory as it may sound, the IIHF partially saves Russian players by extending the ban on Russian hockey. From the harassment of the activists, the disrespectful attitude of the opponents and the annoying questions from the journalists. Does anyone doubt that if the Russian team participated in any tournament during the special operation, the questions would be devoted to just one topic? And if adult men can take a hit, young men under such pressure can experience severe stress that will definitely affect their psyche and career.