MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. The decision to suspend the Russian National Ice Hockey Team from international competitions is unconstructive and unbeneficial for the global hockey, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR) said in a statement Wednesday.

On March 22, the IIHF council prolonged the suspension of Russian and Belarusian teams from international tournaments until the end of the 2023/24 season.

"The format of such tournaments as the World Cup implies competition between the strongest athletes of the planet, without national or ethnic discrimination. Russia is one of the world’s leading ice hockey countries; it is among the leaders in terms of victories and medals of the most prestigious international tournaments. The suspension of the Russian National Team from World Cups and other competitions under the contrived pretext of ‘security of participants’ is a decision that is neither constructive, nor beneficial for the world hockey. The FHR will continue to take all possible efforts to bring the national teams back to international competitions," the statement reads.