After a surprising pivot at the 2026 IIHF Congress in May, where the International Ice Hockey Federation announced that the blanket ban on Russia and Belarus’ participation on international hockey would be lifted in place of a case-by-case tournament review, the IIHF today confirmed each nation’s eligibility for IIHF tournaments for the 2026-27 season.

The IIHF Council today confirmed that both nations were considered for the top five IIHF Championships (Men’s and Women’s World Championship, U20 World Junior Championship, and U18 Men’s and Women’s World Championship) in 2027, following requests from both the Russian and Belarusian federations to be reinstated. The IIHF, claiming safety, security, operational feasibility and sport integrity considerations for each tournament, announced that in the case of Russia, they would only be eligible for potential reinstatement to the 2027 Women’s World Championship, with a decision to be made following this year’s tournament in November.

In the case of Belarus, the IIHF announced that the Bisons would only be ineligible for the Men’s World and U20 World Junior Championships, meaning that there is the potential to return to the Women’s World Championship (Division IV), U18 Men’s World Championship (Top Division) and U18 Women’s World Championship (Division III) in 2027. Unlike the Russia decision, which clearly speculated that Russia’s eligibility would only be decided after the conclusion of the 2026 Women’s World Championship, there is no such mention for Belarus, seemingly implying their reinstatement to these three tournaments is already set.

While the Belarusian federation has not commented, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation has already announced its intent to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, saying “the RIHF neither accepts, nor understands the IIHF’s shortsighted stance, which disregards the recommendations provided by the International Olympic Committee and runs against the spirit of sport to unite people across the world.” 

While there is still time for circumstances to change, with the first tournament Belarus is scheduled to return to being the U18 Women’s Worlds in January, how the appeals process will go, or how the rest of the international hockey world reacts, with the potential for other teams to protest or boycott the reinstatement of these nations, remains to be seen.

Photo Credit: CNA – IIHF – HHOF – IOC