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≡ RUSSIAN SANCTIONS ≡
The International Ice Hockey Federation reported on its Council meeting of 21 January, explaining:
“Following its latest meeting and based on a detailed risk assessment, the IIHF Council believes it is not yet safe to reintegrate the Russian and Belarusian National and Club Teams to its championships for the 2026-2027 season as the current security conditions do not allow the necessary requirements for the organization of tournaments guaranteeing the safety of all.
“However, the IIHF Council has reviewed the IOC recommendations and will consider the reintegration of youth players (U18) from the Russian and Belarusian National and Club Teams to its championships for the 2027-2028 season.
“This consideration will remain contingent upon an ongoing assessment of safety and security conditions. If these risks sufficiently reduce over the coming months, the IIHF will work together with the relevant national associations to support a possible reintegration at the youth level.”
This is the same basis on which the International Olympic Committee recommended that a ban on Russian and Belarusian teams be instituted in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev said that an appeal to the IIHF’s position will be filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport:
“The Russian Ice Hockey Federation, with the support of the Russian Olympic Committee, is appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport the IIHF Council’s decision to bar Russian youth teams from competitions, contrary to the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which in December 2025 explicitly instructed international federations on the inadmissibility of restrictions on youth sports, including team sports.
“The IIHF’s references to so-called security concerns are unfounded. A similar argument was already the subject of a CAS case against the International Luge Federation, and the court found it unfounded. Lawyers for the Russian Olympic Committee presented dozens of examples of Russian athletes participating in international competitions without incident, and an independent Swiss human rights expert confirmed that a blanket ban on participation contradicts all existing humanitarian and legal principles in the field of human rights and is openly discriminatory.
“At the same time, a number of international federations, including the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the International Equestrian Federation, the International Fencing Federation, the International Volleyball Federation, and the World Curling Federation, have already implemented the IOC recommendations. We will consistently defend the right of our young athletes to fair and equal participation in competitions, and the process of Russia’s return to global sport will continue.”
Observed: The interesting element for a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing will be the difference between individual events and team sports, where it is harder to mask the identity of the squad.
The striking element of the Russian response is its insistence that the IOC recommendations be followed as if direct instructions. The IOC, in its Olympic Summit release, was clear that the ultimate arbiter of re-integration into each sport would be its international federation, in this case the IIHF:
“[T]he Summit supported the IOC EB’s recommendation that youth athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport should no longer be restricted in their access to international youth competitions, in both individual and team sports. The definition of youth competitions and the application of these recommendations depends for this purpose on the regulations of each International Federation (IF).”
Russia’s position is that the IOC’s recommendation is a directive. Assuming the Russians push the issue to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, it will be fascinating to see if the CAS panel takes the bait the Russians are placing before them, effectively turning the IOC’s guideline into a rule.
This would have wide impacts well beyond the specific issue of Russian youth team eligibility.
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