MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) will decide on Russia’s participation in the 2026 Olympic Games during the federation’s congress scheduled for April 2024, IIHF President Luc Tardif was quoted as saying by Finland’s Ilta Sanomat newspaper on Tuesday.
"The decision about the participation of teams from Russia and Belarus in the 2026 Olympic tournament will be made during the international federation’s congress in April next year. After that, we are to organize an Olympic qualifier and, therefore, we need to know what teams will be taking part," the official was quoted as saying.
Tardif told the paper that the IOC had put forward two preconditions for the participation of Russians in international competitions, and one of them was compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code and all related anti-doping regulations.
"At this point, we have no knowledge of what the Russian doping control process looks like. There are lots of questions on the subject," the Finnish-language newspaper quoted Tardif as saying.
The second IOC requirement stipulates that only athletes who did not actively support the Russian special military operation in Ukraine should be allowed to compete on the international level.
"This aspect is not fully clear to us," Tardif was quoted as saying. "Exactly for this reason, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) will hold a meeting with the IOC in mid-February to gain full understanding of what the above-mentioned requirement means in practice. That is why our consultations with the IOC are ongoing."
Following the IOC recommendations, the IIHF ruled that national teams of Russia and Belarus would be barred from participating in world championships, and they would not take part in the 2023 IIHF World Championship hosted by Tampere and Riga.