The tragedy of Russian hockey continues.

After the start of military special operations in Ukraine, the Russian team went into an international bath. First, our guys have been banned from participating in the 2022 World Championship, which is being held these days in Finland. Then the youth team was left without a world title, and Novosibirsk and Omsk, preparing to host MFM at the end of 2022, missed such an opportunity. Organizing this tournament for the regions could be the start of a real hockey boom and a great opportunity for the development of urban infrastructure, but now we can only dream of big sports tournaments.

It seems that the festival of bans for the Russian team has come to an end. But today, at the IIHF convention on May 27, another package of restrictions was adopted against our national team:

• st. The 2023 World Championship, which is expected to take place in St. Petersburg, will be held in Riga and Tampere;
• The Russian national team will be transferred from the elite to the first division;
• Our team’s participation in the 2023 World Cup has been suspended;
• In addition, the Russian team will not be able to participate in the MChM, YUChM and women’s hockey tournaments that will be held in 2023.

“Anything can be expected if we are not working on it. Why should we be surprised here? One hope is not enough. To achieve a result, you need to at least do something. Just because they didn’t let us in means that FHR didn’t give enough arguments and held its position.

Russia generally lacks any authority in world hockey. That’s why such decisions are made. And I don’t know what to do with all this. You can’t look for someone to blame here.” commented the legendary Vyacheslav Fetisov.

But they believe that in the Russian Ice Hockey Federation the situation can be changed:

“The Russian Ice Hockey Federation does not participate in the decision to freeze the participation of the Russian national team in the 2023 World Championship, which was adopted by the International Federation at the six-month congress, as it has no legal basis.

The FHR notes that previous applications to the IIHF Disciplinary Committee to appeal against Russia’s non-participation in international tournaments and to return their rights to host the 2023 and 2023 World Championships will only be considered on 15 June. All FHR comments on IIHF decisions will follow the Disciplinary Board decisions.”

Still, good news about Russia’s hockey teams should not be expected in the near future. You can only guess how much this will hurt Russian hockey and when and in what status he will return to the world stage.