Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation Plans to Challenge Ban on National Teams at 2027 World Championships
Reform.news Editorial Team · 7 November 2026, 17:24
https://reform.news/en/belarusian-ice-hockey-federation-plans-to-challenge-ban-on-national-teams-at-2027-world-championships/The Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation (FHB) disagrees with the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) decision to bar Belarusian national teams from the 2027 World Championships and is considering appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This was stated in a statement published on the federation’s website.
On November 7, the IIHF Council announced that Belarus’s junior and senior men’s national teams would not be allowed to participate in the 2027 World Championships. The IIHF explained that the decision took into account the organisational and sporting arrangements for both championships that had already been approved, including tournament formats, match schedules, ticket sales and operational planning.
The FHB noted that the decision had been made just days after the IIHF Disciplinary Committee partially upheld the Belarusian side’s appeal against the Council’s decisions of July 27, 2026.
“The decision was made just days after the IIHF Disciplinary Committee, having upheld the FHB’s appeal, annulled the Council’s decisions of July 27, 2026, and recognised that references to security concerns were not supported by sufficient evidence. This is already the second time in 2026 that the Disciplinary Committee has overturned IIHF Council decisions restricting the participation of national teams,” the federation said.
The FHB believes there is still sufficient time to resolve all organisational issues before the World Championship in Germany, which is due to begin in May 2027.
“In essence, the decision reproduces the outcome of the annulled ruling: Belarusian national teams are once again excluded from the tournaments, with only the justification changing. The inconsistency in the approaches also raises questions. The IIHF explains the exclusion of Belarusian teams by the need to preserve the tournament formats and organisational planning, but says it must comply with the CAS ruling regarding Russia, which will also require changes to the line-up of participating teams. Why the same approach has not been applied to Belarus remains unanswered,” FHB Chairman Aliaksandr Bahdanovich said.
The Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation said it intended to “defend the rights of Belarusian hockey” and would determine its further legal steps in the near future, including the possibility of challenging IIHF bodies’ decisions before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.