The International Olympic Committee has officially confirmed that it will continue the ban on Russian teams competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. This will directly impact the Russian men’s hockey team—a previous gold and silver medalist—as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced it would follow the IOC’s policy, even though the NHL players returned to the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
Russian ice hockey teams barred from Milano Cortina Olympics as IOC stands by team ban
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) made it clear on Tuesday that its March 2023 ruling stands: Russian teams won’t be allowed to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The ruling, despite recent talks between Russian officials and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which had been in talks to determine the outcomes of welcoming back NHL players into Olympic competition. In a statement published via Reuters, the IOC made its stance clear: “The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 about teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place. It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team. We take note that the IIHF has confirmed that it will follow this recommendation.”
IIHF keeps up with IOC, reaffirming Russian team’s exclusion in Olympic hockey
The IIHF, which governs ice hockey globally, confirmed that it would completely follow the IOC’s direction. The Russian and Belarusian national teams will therefore still be excluded from all IIHF events, including the Olympics—an original ban launched following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While a few Russian and Belarusian athletes will be permitted to compete behind a neutral flag — as happened with the 2024 Paris Olympics — the same will not apply to team sports, particularly germane in the instance of men’s and women’s ice hockey. With the 2026 Winter Olympics now less than a year away, the absence of the Russian men’s hockey team changes not just the tournament’s competitive landscape but also its historical narrative. Unless policies shift dramatically, hockey fans will have to watch Milano Cortina unfold without one of its traditional contenders.Also read: Russia banned from 2026 Olympic ice hockey tournamentThe IOC’s reaffirmation of the ban for Russian teams reflects a resolute position on the geopolitical factors around global sports. Although individual athletes might continue to have routes to the Olympics under neutral status, team-based sports such as hockey remain off-limits to Russia. Meanwhile, the Russian hockey empire will simply have to wait — and observe — on the sidelines.
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