IIHF Denies Russia's Return to World Ice Hockey Championships

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has barred Russia and Belarus from competing in the 2026 World Championships — both at the men's level and across youth categories. The Russian team will play neither at the senior World Championship in Düsseldorf and Mannheim, nor at the junior tournament in Edmonton and Red Deer, Canada.

The decision comes as a response to pressure that mounted after the International Olympic Committee's ruling in early July, which lifted the blanket suspension of Russia from international competitions. However, the IIHF says it continues to evaluate the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams on a tournament-by-tournament basis. "The IIHF Council's assessment took into account safety, organisational feasibility, and the preservation of sporting integrity in relation to the application from the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia," the organisation said in its statement.

With this decision, the group stage lineup for the senior World Championship is now finalised. Kazakhstan and Ukraine, in particular, breathed a sigh of relief — both nations fought hard in May to secure their place in the elite division. For the Ukrainian team, it would have been especially painful had their return to hockey's top tier after a twenty-year absence been derailed by the very aggressor that invaded their country in February 2022.

Russia has no intention of accepting the ruling quietly. "We will appeal to CAS. We do not accept and do not understand the shortsighted position of the IIHF, which ignores the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee and contradicts the very idea of sport, which is meant to unite people around the world," the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia stated.

The Russian national team will also miss out on the Under-18 World Championships for both men and women. Notably, back in late May the IIHF did grant Belarus permission to take part in these tournaments — the women's team in Division III, and the men's team in the top division, where in Duluth, USA, Belarus will face, among others, the Czech national team.

Russia's only remaining opening comes in 2027, when the Women's World Championship is set to take place in Quebec in November. Russian women's hockey players, however, will not be featured at this year's autumn tournament in Denmark. Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete, but they will have to drop back down to Division IV.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz