The Finnish World Championships will be played without Russians and Belarusians.
Russian referees will not enter the World Cup in Finland in the spring. AOP
The International Hockey Federation excluded Russia and Belarus from all international activities under the IIHF at the end of February, four days after Russia invaded Ukraine. Belarus has supported Russia in the war of aggression.
Even before the decision of the IIHF, the Finnish Hockey Association had announced that Russia and Belarus would not be able to participate on 13-29 March. May for the World Championships in Tampere and Helsinki due to the war of aggression launched by Russia.
Now the IIHF has also thrown out Russian and Belarusian referees and line judges from the Finnish World Cup. The chairman of the IIHF spoke about this Luc Tardif For R-Sport.
– It is true that there will definitely be no Russian referees at the World Cup, Tardif said.
Russia had to play in the first block of Helsinki, in Tampere, Belarus. Russia takes the place of France, Austria replaces Belarus.
The IIHF is due to decide later in the spring whether to exclude the 2023 World Championships awarded to St. Petersburg, Russia. Russia lost the World Cup host under the age of 20 due to the war in Ukraine.