St. Petersburg SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg announced the decision of the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) to extend the suspension of Russian national teams from international competitions for the 2024/25 season. His words guide the way press service club.
“There are politics, there are certain conditions that we cannot influence. Today the International Ice Hockey Federation is run by Finns. Now we know what their attitude is towards Russia and Russian hockey.
They are afraid of us, they don’t want to play with us. They are afraid of losing to us. They are doing everything possible to prevent a strong team from joining. But this is an unsportsmanlike principle. I’m sure everything will return to normal. People who love hockey understand that no matter what they do, the international development of hockey is impossible without Russia,” Rotenberg said.
The IIHF Council met on February 12-13, 2024 and it was decided to extend the suspensions of Russia and Belarus for another season. The organization stated that the IIHF Council will continue to monitor the situation and in May 2025 will consider the reintegration of the Russian and Belarusian national teams for the 2025/26 season.
In the spring of 2022, the IIHF decided to ban Russian players from participating in international tournaments, even with neutral status, and the organization also stripped Russia of the right to host the junior world championship in its home country in 2023. In March 2023, the IIHF extended the suspension for the 2023/24 season.
Previously IIHF accused It comes under the influence of the IOC because of Russia.
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Source: Gazeta
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