Shut Up and Dribble: Hypocrisy on ice

Russia and Belarus continue to face an ice hockey ban, while Israel receives a free pass

SportsMarco Foresti — Published March 18, 2025 3 minutes

Russia’s war on Ukraine has led to Russia being banned from multiple international sporting events. These include the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and the UEFA European Football Championships, to name a few.

The reasoning behind Russia and Belarus’s bans is clear. We now have to look at Israel.

The situation in Gaza is dire. Israeli soldiers are killing Palestinian civilians every day, with the United Nations reporting that 45,000 have been killed between Oct. 7, 2023 and Dec. 18, 2024.

However, the Israeli hockey team is still allowed to compete in IIHF events.

On Jan. 11, 2024, the IIHF initially banned Israel from competing in their usual, lower division competitions, citing safety concerns. However, there were no specific mentions of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Then, on Jan. 17, Israel was given the all clear to compete in the Division III under-20 world championship. Again, there was no mention of the genocide in Gaza.

Like Russia and Belarus, Israel has been condemned by many other countries for its actions in Gaza. However, much of the Western world, including sporting organizations such as the IIHF, have dragged their feet in condemning Israel.

Why should Russia and Belarus be banned and Israel not?

The situation is plain and simple: If Russia and Belarus are banned due to the

war in Ukraine, it is not fair that Israel escapes a ban. It is hard to see why one country gets a pass and can compete as usual while the others don’t. This makes it easy for fans and athletes to lose trust in the IIHF, seeing as it is not applying the same policies to all member associations.

There are, however, alternatives to outright banning the countries from competing that the IIHF could adopt for the sake of the athletes. At the end of the day, these athletes want to compete. Unless they actively encourage and voice their approval for what their governments are doing or have served in active roles tied to Gaza—athletes should not be punished for the horrible decisions and actions of their governments.

For the sake of fairness, Russian, Belarusian, and Israeli players should still be allowed to compete, but under strict guidelines. Under these new hypothetical guidelines, Russian, Belarusian and Israeli flags would not be shown at games, the national anthems of these countries would not be played, and lastly, the athletes would wear neutral colours—like black, gray or white—instead of their countries’ traditional colours.

This is a similar solution to what the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) introduced when the war in Ukraine broke out. The FIA still allowed Russian and Belarusian drivers to compete in their respective motorsport categories, but under the FIA flag, with no national anthem and no national symbols displayed on their uniforms, equipment or cars.

Furthermore, before every IIHF game involving these countries, a formal statement could be made by the IIHF regarding their countries’ aggression in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as other countries enabling and aiding them.

This solution gives athletes the chance to compete in a neutral capacity, meaning viewers get to watch the best players compete against each other. Violent governments are still held accountable for the atrocities they are committing, and are not given time in the spotlight.

However, one thing remains certain. Governments actively committing crimes against humanity should not be allowed in the spotlight of international sporting tournaments.

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 11, published March 18, 2025.