International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) chief Luc Tardif said Thursday that he wanted to lift the ban on Russian and Belarusian teams participating in international ice hockey events.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged sporting organizations to ban Russian athletes and officials from international events shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – a decision that most international bodies have abided by in the nearly four years since.
“We want as soon as possible the Belarus and Russians back,” Tardif told press during the ice hockey competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics hosted by Milan and Cortina – arguing that their inclusion “will mean that the world [championships] will be a little bit better,” according to AFP.
Tardif’s remarks follow similar comments made by FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Feb. 2. Asked about lifting the ban, the FIFA head – who is a prominent ally of US President Donald Trump – replied “we have to, yes… at least at youth level.”
Infantino went on to argue that the ban “has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred,” and that “having girls and boys from Russia being able to play football games in other parts of Europe would help.”
The IOC, conversely, has argued that it is unfair for officials and athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their national flags while Ukrainian athletes and officials are prevented from doing so by Russian aggression.
In a statement issued on Feb. 28, 2022, the IOC also said that “the Olympic Movement is united in its sense of fairness not to punish athletes for the decisions of their government if they are not actively participating in them.”
For this reason, they continued to allow individual Russian athletes to compete, providing they did so under a neutral flag.
On Thursday, Tardif echoed Infantino’s comments – saying that he believes lifting the ban on under-18s participating could pave the way for the ban on adult athletes to be lifted.
“We try to see what’s going on... every day you watch the news to hope that something will come better,” Tardif told reporters. “We still try to organise a comeback because that’s the family of IIHF. Bring them too early, it’s not going to be good for our competition and the question of security is always there.”
“We’re trying to keep them around and organised to make sure that when the time will come, we will be ready to bring back the family together.”
Also on Thursday, Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Winter Olympics for refusing to remove a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia’s war on Ukraine.