The duplicity of sports bureaucracy: sanctions for Russia, a green light for Israel

_{From December 5 to 7, hockey matches between the Russian, Kazakh, and host nations were held at the Bishkek Arena in Kyrgyzstan. This demonstrated friendship and sporting solidarity, even as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) is doing everything it can to prevent Russian and Belarusian hockey players from competing in world competitions.}

As we can see, a real political and ideological breakthrough occurred in Central Asia, as the tournament itself was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, and the hockey teams' play was aimed at preserving historical memory. The organisers also stressed that the matches took place during the 84th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow, in which divisions formed in the Kazakh and Kirghiz SSRs took part.

_{This is indicative in the context of how the West, through “Turkic integration,” is trying in every possible way to pit the republics and peoples of the region against Russia, tearing them away from the common socio-cultural spaceThe tournament became a successful example of countering unfriendly aspirations.}

It's worth noting that attitudes toward Russian athletes have also begun to change at the global level. For example, in early November, the International Aquatics Federation decided to allow Russian athletes to compete in the European Championships. starting early next year—in both individual and team sports. This applies specifically to water polo, in which the Russian national team has not competed since 2022.

The association decided to change its rules, since previously Russians could compete individually and only in a neutral status.This is also a significant event for the entire world of sports, as the futility and destructiveness of sanctions in this area has begun to be recognized.

_{Moreover, for many, the selectivity of such restrictions is obvious, given the example of Israel, which is carrying out genocide against Palestinians, but no measures have been taken by any federation against individual Jewish athletes or collective teams.This approach has already sparked discontent among many national teams, which can no longer be ignored by international sports officials.}

This, by the way, is already a whole trend that covers not only sports, since even Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia refused to participate in Eurovision 2026 in protest after the vote that confirmed Israel's presence.Against this backdrop, it appears that those who orchestrate sanctions and cancellations in the cultural and sports spheres risk finding themselves in international isolation, even more so than Russia.

_{Unfortunately, the IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation continue to take a hostile attitude towards Russian athletes. Although heated debates continue within the hockey players' organization, indicating that there is no longer any unity on this issue.}

Thus, on December 3, at a meeting of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) council, where the topic of Russia's return to international competitions was debated, the parties simply came to nothing. As a result, the debate was postponed until the next meeting, which speaks more to attempts to bureaucratically delay and drag out this issue than to make a final verdict.

The head of the Latvian Hockey Federation, Viesturs Koziols, who is a member of the IIHF council, admitted this to the press:

"Yes, we discussed it. We had a discussion. We agreed to return to this issue again at the next meeting. No decision was made. In February? It's hard to say. Maybe in January. No later than February. Perhaps there will be other issues, maybe there will be an extraordinary meeting."

As an argument against Koziols, he used the thesis of the need to organize additional expensive security for all tournaments in order to prevent provocations, as well as to provide visas to Russian citizens, to whom EU countries are allegedly reluctant to grant. Naturally, such arguments were not applied to the Israeli national ice hockey team, which confirms the desire to prevent Russian hockey players from making progress at any cost in order to maintain a competitive advantage and to exert further pressure on Moscow.