The independent IIHF Disciplinary Board has rejected the appeals submitted by the Russian and Belarusian Ice Hockey Federations against the IIHF Council decision to disallow the participation of Russian and Belarusian national teams from IIHF competitions.
With respect to these appeals, the Deciding Panel determined:
With respect to these appeals, the Deciding Panel determined:
- That the decision of the IIHF Council on February 28th was not a sanction but was a safety policy
- That the IIHF Council had the authority to adopt and implement a safety policy pursuant to IIHF Statute 4 and Statute 15.4.4.1.w;
- That the IIHF had sufficient information before it upon which to adopt and implement a safety policy, both in terms of previous reports and recent experiences as well as direct knowledge and backgrounds of the members of the Council; and
- That the safety policy was not discriminatory and was proportionate
The Deciding Panel further ruled in favor of the IIHF with respect to the IIHF Council’s decision to withdraw the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship hosting rights from Russia citing that the IIHF Council had the legal authority in accordance with the IIHF Bylaws to withdraw these Championships based on the Council’s legitimate concerns for the safety and freedom of movement of players, fans, spectators and the media.
The Deciding Panel lastly ruled in favour of the IIHF Council’s decision to not assign Russian on-ice officials to participate in IIHF competitions and to disallow the participation of Russian committee members (including experts) in the respective IIHF Committees based on the same reasoning used to determine that Russian national teams could not participate in IIHF competitions.
All appeals were filed in accordance with the IIHF Statutes, Bylaws and Regulations.
“We welcome the decision of the independent IIHF Disciplinary Board, which supports the IIHF Council’s decision to disallow the participation of the Russian and Belarusian teams and to withdraw the two World Championship program events that were scheduled to take place in Russia next season,” said IIHF President Luc Tardif.
“We maintain that this decision was taken out of concern for the safety and well-being of players, staff, officials, media, and spectators, and we are pleased that the Board has agreed. The independent board supported our view that it would have been an unacceptable safety risk to either host the WM20 and WM in Russia or to have the Russian and Belarusian teams currently participating in IIHF competitions.”
Pursuant to section 12.5.4 of the IIHF Disciplinary Code, this decision is final within the IIHF. It can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in accordance with the Code of Sports Related Arbitration after receipt of this written decision. The decision of this Disciplinary Panel remains in effect while under appeal unless the Court of Arbitration for Sport orders otherwise.
The Deciding Panel lastly ruled in favour of the IIHF Council’s decision to not assign Russian on-ice officials to participate in IIHF competitions and to disallow the participation of Russian committee members (including experts) in the respective IIHF Committees based on the same reasoning used to determine that Russian national teams could not participate in IIHF competitions.
All appeals were filed in accordance with the IIHF Statutes, Bylaws and Regulations.
“We welcome the decision of the independent IIHF Disciplinary Board, which supports the IIHF Council’s decision to disallow the participation of the Russian and Belarusian teams and to withdraw the two World Championship program events that were scheduled to take place in Russia next season,” said IIHF President Luc Tardif.
“We maintain that this decision was taken out of concern for the safety and well-being of players, staff, officials, media, and spectators, and we are pleased that the Board has agreed. The independent board supported our view that it would have been an unacceptable safety risk to either host the WM20 and WM in Russia or to have the Russian and Belarusian teams currently participating in IIHF competitions.”
Pursuant to section 12.5.4 of the IIHF Disciplinary Code, this decision is final within the IIHF. It can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in accordance with the Code of Sports Related Arbitration after receipt of this written decision. The decision of this Disciplinary Panel remains in effect while under appeal unless the Court of Arbitration for Sport orders otherwise.