MOSCOW, May 29 First Vice President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Petr Brzhiza said that the transfer of the Russian team after the restoration to the first division of the World Cup would lead to a depreciation of the tournament. Earlier, the IIHF extended the suspension of the Russian and Belarusian teams for the 2023 World Cup, which instead of Russian St. Petersburg will be hosted by Latvia and Finland. The IIHF Disciplinary Committee must consider the appeal of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR) against the decision to remove the Russian national teams from international tournaments on June 15. criticized for discrimination. During the Cold War, tournaments were boycotted for various reasons. But the IIHF's bylaws are now designed to protect each member. And suspensions don't come until one federation starts violating those bylaws. If we cross that line, then the the discussion that the IIHF should not have this or that country because of politics,» Hokej.cz quotes Brzyza. «We have decided that Russia and Belarus will not play the entire 2022/23 season. The IIHF has one congress in September, one in May. This gives us some opportunity to predict how the situation will develop. We'll see. If the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, then in a year we will be able to make exactly the same decision for the next season,» the vice-president added. In February, the IIHF council suspended the Russian and Belarusian teams from international competitions for an indefinite period. The teams are missing out on the 2022 World Cup, which is taking place in Finland. The place of the Russian team was taken by the French team, the Belarusians were replaced by the Austrians.
