NHL for giving Russian and Belarusian athletes the opportunity to compete in the 2024 Ice Hockey World Championship
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Sports organizations around the world have banned Russian athletes from international competitions due to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last spring. One such organization is the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which has banned the Russian national ice hockey team.
Currently, the IIHF has suspended both Russian and Belarusian athletes due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, as recommended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Since the National Hockey League (NHL) does not share the same opinion as the IIHF and IOC, Russian and Belarusian players can continue to play in the NHL.
The World Cup of Hockey is organized by the NHL and the NHL Players Association, but the IIHF has stated in the past that it would like to attend the event. With conflicting views over the ban, it’s unclear if the NHL will partner with the IIHF for the World Championship.
NHL Assistant Commissioner Bill Daly shared that the NHL would very much like to give Russian players the opportunity to compete in the World Cup and suggested the idea of holding mini-qualifiers for the 2024 tournament to include more countries as the tournament goes ahead .
Speaking to ESPN, Daly said: “Obviously we would like that and I think our Russian players would like that. That is why we definitely want to meet them in a credible way.”
With the World Cup of Hockey scheduled to take place in the middle of the 2023-2024 NHL season, it remains to be seen if the Russian and Belarusian players playing for any of the 32 NHL, as well as players from other nations, will play at the 2024 World Cup of Hockey be able.
Although no settlement has been reached between the IIHF and the NHL regarding the 2024 tournament, hopefully a settlement would mean the world’s best competing in the greatest hockey competitions, rather than having to drop out due to the NHL’s overlapping season with the tournament, as many athletes have had to do in the past for Olympic Winter Games and IHHF World Championships.
