(Zurich) The International Ice Hockey Federation (FIHG) on Wednesday excluded teams from Russia and Belarus from all of its world championships next season.

IIHF officials have cited safety concerns for players, competition staff and fans — due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — to extend the ban which will span more than two years at the end of the 2023-24 season.

“It’s too early,” said Quebecer Luc Tardif, president of the IIHF, of Russia’s return. “There are too many risks. »

The women’s world championship will be held in US cities in March or April next year and the men’s world championship will be held in the Czech Republic in May next year.

These two countries will also not be able to participate in the 2024 World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Ice hockey is a favorite sport of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The IHFG followed advice given by the International Olympic Committee in the days following the outbreak of war in Russia in February last year to withdraw Russian teams from international competitions and find new hosts for events. that the country had to organize.

However, the IOC is now urging Olympic sports governing bodies to find ways to include Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals in qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Games.

The IOC Executive Board is due to discuss the Russian question at a meeting next Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Tardif, speaking after a decision by the governing council he chairs, said the FIHG must decide next year whether Russia and Belarus can participate in the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo.