MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. The Russian national ice hockey squad has already been given a seed in one of the groups for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, so it could find its way on to the ice pending a decision on the national team’s reinstatement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) press office said in a statement to TASS on Thursday.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced in a statement earlier in the week that Russia will share the same group with the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy if Russia is cleared to participate in the event.

"In the published IIHF program, it is clearly mentioned that it is a 'theoretic seeding position if the decision is made that team returns to the IIHF championship program,'" the IOC’s statement reads.

"At this moment, the IOC recommendations to International Federations and major sport event organizers remain in place. Therefore, it is, as IIHF says, a ‘theoretic seeding position’ and nothing else," the statement from the IOC added.

According to the IIHF’s published chart of teams for the group stage competitions at the 2026 Olympics, Russia and the United States were placed in Group C, and the remaining two teams will be determined later after qualifying.

Group A consists of Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and Olympic host Italy. Group B currently lists Finland, Germany, the Czech Republic and the final entrant to this group will be announced following qualifiers.

In spring of this year, the IIHF ruled to indefinitely extend the suspension of national ice hockey teams and clubs representing Russia and Belarus from international tournaments.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Congress, hosted by Finland’s Tampere on May 27, 2022, voted to exclude the national teams of Russia and Belarus from the 2023 World Championship, and the two teams were likewise sidelined at the 2022 Ice Hockey World Championship, due to the developments in Ukraine.

IOC sanctions against Russia

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.