The head of the IIHF announced the non-admission of the Russian national team to the 2026 Olympics

The Russian national ice hockey team will not be allowed to participate in the Olympic tournament in 2026. This was announced on May 25 by the President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Luke Tardif.

"The Russian Olympic Committee has received this news. We made it clear that it was the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that should notify the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), and they did it," SVT Sport quoted him as saying.

According to Tardif, the organization also wants the IOC to officially announce this decision.

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Earlier, on May 24, it was reported that the IOC had requested from the IIHF the schedule and composition of groups without the participation of the Russian national ice hockey team for the Olympics, which will be held in 2026.

The day before, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) announced that the issue of the Russian national team's participation in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy had been raised at the IIHF Congress in Stockholm, but there was no concrete decision yet. It was noted that the ROC and the RIHF will hold additional consultations in the summer on the participation of Russian teams.