The International Ice Hockey Federation -IIHF- has decided that Russia will remain excluded from the Men’s World Championship, the World Junior Championship and the men’s and women’s U18 World Championships in 2027. The IIHF Council assessed each tournament separately and justified the four exclusions on continuing safety, security, operational feasibility and sporting integrity concerns. Russia’s possible participation in the Women’s World Championship will be reviewed independently in November, when the federation will consider the circumstances surrounding that event. The IIHF announced the decision on 30 July.
Belarus will also remain outside the Men’s World Championship and World Junior Championship, but will receive different treatment in other categories. Its national teams will return for the men’s U18 World Championship, the Women’s World Championship Division IV and the Women’s U18 World Championship Division III Group B. The IIHF had already approved this partial reintegration in May after consulting the respective organising committees. The decisions therefore do not represent an absolute exclusion of both countries: they prevent their return to some of the leading competitions while allowing or considering their participation in others.
A mandatory event-by-event review
The process follows rulings issued by the IIHF Disciplinary Board. The Council had decided in January that Russia would not return during the entire 2026-2027 season, but the Russian Ice Hockey Federation appealed. The disciplinary body annulled that decision on 25 May because it could not be maintained in its existing form and referred the matter back to the Council. The ruling did not automatically reinstate Russia but required new assessments of the safety, operational and sporting conditions surrounding each tournament. The IIHF subsequently explained the scope of the process.
The revised approach allows the federation to reach different conclusions depending on the national team and the championship. In Russia’s case, sporting integrity is expressly included among the reasons for maintaining the exclusions. For Belarus, the IIHF refers to safety, security and operational feasibility but does not cite sporting integrity. The statements do not publicly identify the specific risks detected at each venue or explain why they can be managed at the approved events but not at those from which the teams remain excluded. They nevertheless show that the organisation has replaced a season-wide ban with a system of individual decisions.
The IOC’s direction does not bind international federations
The decision follows a change in the position of the International Olympic Committee -IOC- towards both countries. In May, it stopped recommending restrictions on the participation of Belarusian athletes and teams. Following the 146th IOC Session, which strengthened the principles of political neutrality and access to sport within the Olympic Charter, the IOC Executive Board provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee on 7 July and declared that its previous recommendations to international federations regarding Russian participation were no longer applicable. The IOC nevertheless maintained restrictions concerning government officials and the organisation of international events in Russia.
The IIHF has now demonstrated that this direction will not produce uniform reintegration. The IOC’s recommendations are not binding instructions, and each international federation retains operational authority over its competitions. The consequences also affect the Association of National Olympic Committees -ANOC- and its national committees: recovering recognition within the Olympic Movement does not guarantee that a country’s national teams will automatically return to every international championship. The institutional status of an Olympic committee and the sporting eligibility of its teams operate at different levels of the system.
A fragmented model of reintegration
The decision provides one of the clearest examples of the limits encountered by general IOC policies when they are applied within individual sports. While some federations have restored Russian and Belarusian participation under national identity, others continue to use restrictions or transitional arrangements. The IIHF belongs to the latter group and maintains that its specific risk assessments can justify exclusions even after the Olympic body has withdrawn its general recommendations. This does not constitute a breach of IOC policy, but an exercise of the autonomy granted to international federations within the global sports system.
The result is a more decentralised and fragmented model: the IOC sets the general political direction, but international federations determine how it is applied across their calendars. Russia will remain outside four championships in 2027 and must wait until November for a decision on the Women’s World Championship. Belarus will return in three categories but remain absent from the two main men’s tournaments under consideration. The IIHF has not completely closed the door on either country, but it has rejected the idea that the IOC’s change of direction can produce automatic or comprehensive reintegration.
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