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IIHF upholds ban on Russian and Belarusian participation

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Cooper Godin
July 5, 2022  (12:38)
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The International Ice Hockey Federation Disciplinary Board announced on Tuesday that they've decided to uphold a ban on Russian and Belarusian participation in their events going forward.

"We welcome the decision of the independent IIHF Disciplinary Board, which supports the IIHF Council's decision to disallow the participation of the Russian and Belarusian teams and to withdraw the two World Championship program events that were scheduled to take place in Russia next season," said IIHF President Luc Tardif.

Tardif added, 'We maintain that this decision was taken out of concern for the safety and well-being of players, staff, officials, media, and spectators, and we are pleased that the Board has agreed. The independent board supported our view that it would have been an unacceptable safety risk to either host the WM20 and WM in Russia or to have the Russian and Belarusian teams currently participating in IIHF competitions."

The IIHF originally announced the ban in late-February during a council meeting due to Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and with Belarus aiding with their invasion.

Russia was also stripped of hosting duties for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship and 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship. The 2023 World Juniors have since been awarded to Moncton and Halifax, while the 2023 World Championship will be held in Helsinki and Riga.