IIHF announces replacement for Russia and Belarus for 2022 Ice Hockey World Cup

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced that France and Austria will replace Russia and Belarus at the men's ice hockey world championship in May. 

Earlier, during an extraordinary meeting on February 28, the IIHF took the decision to suspended Russian and Belarusian teams in response to the invasion of Ukraine and now after a council meeting on Friday, the two new teams have been announced. Ice hockey is one of the sports Russian tops in, and including victories as the Soviet Union, Russia is currently tied with Canada for most world titles on 27.

The Ice Hockey World Cup is scheduled to take place in Finland from May 15-29. France will join group A in Helsinki and face defending champions Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Kazakhstan and Italy while Austria will replace Belarus in group B in Tampere and will play Olympic champions Finland, the United States, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Latvia, Norway and Great Britain. 

With IIHF's decision, there is a suspension of all Russian and Belarusian National Teams and Clubs from participation in every age category and in all IIHF competitions or events until further notice, it also announced the withdrawal of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship hosting rights from Russia. The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship was scheduled to take place from 26 December 2022 to 5 January 2023 and the organisers have now initiated discussions to find a new host for the event.

'Have a duty of care to all of our members and participants': IIHF

“The IIHF is not a political entity and cannot influence the decisions being taken over the war in Ukraine,” said IIHF President Luc Tardif, adding, “We nevertheless have a duty of care to all of our members and participants and must therefore do all we can to ensure that we are able to operate our events in a safe environment for all teams taking part in the IIHF World Championship program.”

“We were incredibly shocked to see the images that have come out of Ukraine,” added Tardif. “I have been in close contact with members of the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine and we hope for all Ukrainians that this conflict can be resolved in a peaceful way and without the need for further violence,” he said.

(Image: AP/@IIHF/Twitter)