The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) extended the suspension of Russia and Belarus for the 2025-2026 season. A hard blow for the Russians, giants of this sport with eleven podiums between 2005 and 2019 at the Men's World Championships. They will therefore be spectators of the World Championships in May 2025, in Sweden and Denmark, and in May 2026, in Switzerland. The president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RHF), Vladislav Tretiak, expressed his outrage to the TASS agency. "I was 17 when I won the World Championship and 19 when I won an Olympic gold medal. I feel sorry for our players, because they are deprived of the right to compete for medals as prestigious, he says. Russia has produced generations of new talents capable of making their way to the senior national team. (…) They are deprived of their dream, which means a lot to every athlete. It is a human rights violation ». The RHF reserves the right to take the matter to court.
