MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. President of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) Vladislav Tretiak said on Wednesday he planned to run for another presidential term in Russia’s governing ice hockey body.

"One should not leave the presidential post in view of today’s ongoing developments," Tretiak, who turned 70 on April 25, told journalists. "The [Russian military] operation in Ukraine will be over and we need to be restoring relations afterwards."

"It is hard to absorb what is happening in the world today and how politics got mixed up with sports," he continued. "We [Russia] have been stripped of two world championships, but I enjoy good relations with the International Ice Hockey Federation [IIHF] and we will be jointly seeking a recognition and cooperation on behalf of the International Olympic Committee [IOC]."

"I have decided to run for another four-year presidential term in the RHF," Tretiak, who has been at the reign of the RHF since 2007, added.

Presidential elections of the Russian Hockey Federation are slated for May 19.

The IIHF announced on Tuesday a decision to cancel its previously scheduled 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship in Russia’s Saint Petersburg. The global organization also canceled earlier the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, scheduled to be hosted by the Russian cities of Novosibirsk and Omsk.

On February 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments referring to a special military operation in Ukraine.

Following the IOC recommendations in late February, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

Russia’s ice hockey legend Tretiak

In December 2020, Tretiak was awarded with a certificate of the World Olympians Association (WOA) for his contribution to the Olympic movement development as well as the promotion of values of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The certificate was presented to Tretiak by IOC President Thomas Bach at an IIHF meeting on December 6 at the IOC headquarters.

Tretiak, born on April 25, 1952, is a former goaltender for the Soviet Union’s national ice hockey team. The legendary player has been recognized as one of the best hockey players of the 20th century by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). As a player of CSKA ice hockey club and the Soviet national squad, he won 10 world championships (1970-71, 1973-75, 1978-79, and 1981-83) and three Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, and 1984).

IIHF’s previously planned tournaments in Russia

In September 2018, the Russian city of St. Petersburg was chosen by the IIHF management to host the world championship in 2023, scheduling the dates on May 5-21. The May 2019 IIHF Congress in Bratislava greenlighted this decision.

The Russian bid offered up two arenas in St. Petersburg to host the matches of the ice hockey world championship in 2023. One of them is currently under construction and once completed it may become the biggest ice arena in Europe with capacity seating ranging between 21,500 and 23,000.

The other arena in St. Petersburg will be the Ice Palace, which is currently the home stadium for KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg club and boasts an over 12,300-seat capacity.

The world’s governing body of ice hockey also announced in 2018 that the Siberian cities of Novosibirsk and Omsk would be the venues for matches of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship (December 26, 2022 - January 5, 2023).