Keeping Russia and Belarus out of the World Cup is the right solution. Ice hockey still has great difficulties with the Russia issue, writes Vinski Virtanen.
Russia has played its own training matches outside the international puck family. PDO
Many would rub their eyes after seeing the picture on the IIHF’s Twitter account on the Monday after the men’s World Cup: the Russian flag was still in third place in the men’s national team ranking.
The Russians have not played in the World Championships in the last two spring tournaments, but the ranking does not waver.
the reason is that The IIHF has given Russia the same ranking points from these World Cup tournaments as it would have received if it had won bronze in both games in Tampere.
So Russia got the same 1,120 points as Latvia, which stretched to a top performance, and does not wage a large-scale war of aggression outside its own borders.
This is a rude relaxation in the direction of the east. It is likely that Russia would have fought for medals in the joint games in Tampere and Riga – or actually in St. Petersburg, because the tournament was originally supposed to be in Russia. Still, Russia had no interest in medal games or any games, and for its own reasons.
Free points by donating The IIHF ensures that when Russia and Belarus return in time, they will play at the World Cup main level. The union is faced with an embarrassing organizational mess, when it has to clear two countries’ worth of space from the main series for the military expeditioners.
The right solution would be to freeze the countries completely out of operation. No participation, no points. If and when the return was ahead, we would see if the points would be enough for, for example, the first division as a Ukrainian club. Currently, the closure is only partial.
Latvia was the super surprise of the WC hockey. In the IIHF’s papers, the bronze is on the same line as Russia’s achievements. PASI LEISMA
At its congress in March, the IIHF surveyed the situation and stated, citing risk management, that it is not safe to take Russia and Belarus back to the 2024 World Cup tournament.
The safety of players, spectators and tournament organizers was a priority in the announcements even when the IIHF initially closed the two countries indefinitely.
Chairman Luc Tardif and the IIHF have in these contexts unitedly insisted that the federation does not make decisions from a political point of view, but safety first.
At no point has the IIHF prioritized Ukraine and the message that the rest of the international community has tried to convey with its sanctions and closures on Russia: that war is not ok.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is a political actor when it distributes money and hosting rights. Sports go hand in hand with these solutions.
Nevertheless, Matti Nurminen, who started as IIHF secretary general last year, did not agree to answer political questions at a seminar organized during the Games, when he was asked on what schedule Russia would be returning to national team games. He also directed an interview request for this story to other IIHF bodies.
It would be strange if Nurminen commented, for example, on the goalkeeper play of the Lions or Latvia’s träpp, but there is not much else left with these choices if you want to keep politics out of the game.
For some reason, the IIHF forgot to congratulate Russia on the World Cup bronze medal.
