IIHF suspends Russia, Belarus from competition

ZURICH The NHL and International Ice Hockey Federation punished Russia for its invasion of Ukraine on Monday.

The IIHF convened a meeting of its council, where it decided to boot perennial contender Russia and invasion-supporter Belarus from tournaments in every age category, including May’s men’s world championship, the rescheduled world junior men’s championship in Alberta in August and the women’s world championship in September.

The NHL broke off its business relationships in Russia, halted its Russian language social media and digital sites and will not consider that country as a location for future NHL events.

“The National Hockey League condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible,” the league said Monday in a statement.

“We also remain concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL Clubs, and not on behalf of Russia. We understand they and their families are being placed in an extremely difficult position.”

The IIHF’s sanctions impact six tournaments and didn’t rule out further action against Russia and Belarus. Russia is scheduled to host the world men’s championship in May 2023.

“The IIHF is not a political entity and cannot influence the decisions being taken over the war in Ukraine,” IIHF president Luc Tardif said in a statement.

“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,” Tardif added.

“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.”