The International Ice Hockey Federation has officially announced that the national teams of Russia and Belarus will not play at the 2022 Ice Hockey World Championship in Finland.
Both teams were expelled due to the war in Ukraine. They will be replaced by France and Austria, who were promoted to Division 1.
Group A, in which the French will replace the Russians, will play in Helsinki. And in another Finnish city of Tampere, teams will perform in group B, among which Austrian hockey players will replace the Belarusians.
As for the competition regulations and schedule, it remains the same.
Earlier to play against the Russian team In hockey, three top teams in Europe (Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic) refused, and the Euro Hockey Tour tournament removed the aggressor country from the competition for at least two years.
Thus, the prestigious Euro Hockey Tour tournament changed the composition of participants for the first time in 25 years . Switzerland will replace disqualified Russia.
Euro Hockey Tour is one of the main annual tournaments in preparation for the World Cup and the Olympic Games. Each participating country hosts a mini-tournament, and the winner of the competition is determined based on the results of 12 rounds.
