Report: IIHF changes its mind, will now re-instate Russia for 2026 Olympics

Last February the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) decided to extend its competition ban against both Russia and Belarus through the 2024/25 campaign and just last week TSN insider Chris Johnston reported that they want to extend that ban all the way through the 2026 Winter Olympics.

From Johnson on TSN 'Insider Trading' segment just last week:

"The deadline to determine if Russia can participate in the 2026 Olympics is now next month.... If Tardif holds to that deadline that he’s now said publicly, it seems very unlikely that we’ll see Russia in the next Olympics"

- Chris Johnston

The IIHF maintained that it is not safe for players from these countries to host or to compete in International events, given the ongoing military conflict between these nations and neighboring Ukraine.

The IIHF also announced that they will make a determination on the two teams' eligibility for the 2025-26 season no later than May, 2025.

Well, now there are reports that the IIHF has actually had a change or heart and is now considering re-instating Russia for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

It's not clear why the IIHF has had such an abrupt change of tune, but it's worth noting that the organization has a history of making reactive decisions. After all, this is the organization who cancelled the World Junior Championships after two confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst a group of healthy teenage boys...

It still remains to be seen what happens with Russia, but the IIHF will have some explaining to do one way or another before May.

From the IIHF's official press release announcement back in February, 2024:

Today, during one of its regularly scheduled meetings, the IIHF Council reviewed the current safety risks associated with reincorporating the Russian and the Belarusian National and Club Teams into IIHF Competitions. Based on a thorough analysis, the IIHF Council concluded that it is not yet safe to reincorporate the Russian and Belarusian Teams back into IIHF Competitions. Therefore, Russia and Belarus will not participate in the 2024/2025 IIHF championship season. This decision will also apply to the Belarusian team regarding the Final Olympic Qualification Round that will be played in August 2024.

As it has been done over the past years, the IIHF Council will continue to monitor the situation, with the latest date to determine if it is safe to reincorporate Russia and Belarus for the 2025/2026 Championship season in May 2025 at the IIHF Council meeting ahead of the IIHF Annual Congress.

The ban against Russia and Belarus goes back to February, 2022 when IIHF officials voted in favor of suspending their eligibility for sanctioned events. 

If indeed the ban goes ahead for the 2026 Olympics we'll be looking at half a decade since Russia was last allowed to compete on the international stage in hockey. While I'm not a supporter of war, can we really call it a 'best on best' international tournament if Russia isn't present?

I won't pretend to know enough about international politics, but I don't see how punishing innocent hockey players helps matters. It's not like these players have any real say in their home country's