Hasek accused the IIHF of lies and cowardice after extending Russia's suspension

Czech hockey player Dominik Hasek accused the IIHF of lying and cowardice due to the extension of the suspension of the Russian national team. He wrote about this on August 1 in the social network X (ex. Twitter).

On July 30, the IIHF extended the suspension of Russian hockey players for the next season (2026/27). The decision was made "due to ongoing concerns about safety, security and sports integrity," the federation said in a statement.

"For security reasons"! This is such a disgusting lie from the IIHF that the whole thing turns into a complete farce and in many ways loses its meaning. People in the organization, including our representative, are cowards," Hasek wrote.

Snow admission: when will Russia return to the international winter sports competitions

The main decisions on the participation of our athletes can be made in the summer of 2026.

Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation and head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), announced on May 28 that the IIHF had annulled the suspension of the Russian and Belarusian national teams from participating in international tournaments. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that there is hope that the Russian national ice hockey team will return to the international arena in the near future. After that, the issue of the participation of the Russian national teams was referred for reconsideration.

Then, on May 29, the IIHF clarified that the admission of Russians to the competition will take place in a separate order for each team and a specific competition. Federation President Luc Tardif said on May 31 that the admission of the Russian and Belarusian national teams IIHF plans to discuss in September.