Belarusian Ice Hockey Association

Belarus
Association nameBelarusian Ice Hockey Association
IIHF CodeBLR
IIHF membership6 May 1992
PresidentDzmitry Baskau
IIHF men's ranking9
IIHF women's rankingN/A
hockey.by

The Belarusian Ice Hockey Association (Belarusian: Федэрацыя хакея Рэспублікі Беларусь, Russian: Федерация хоккея Республики Беларусь)[1] is the governing body of ice hockey in Belarus. It was founded on 6 March 1992 and became a member of the IIHF on 2 May 1992.

The Belarusian Ice Hockey Association hosted the 2014 IIHF World Championship, and was planned to co-host the 2021 IIHF World Championship. Because of "safety and security issues," the International Ice Hockey Federation decided that the 2021 World Championship would not be played in Belarus.[2]

Since 9 September 2020, the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association has been headed by Dzmitry Baskau who is accused of being involved in the killing of protester Raman Bandarenka.[3] For this reason, a travel ban against Baskau was imposed by the governments of Latvia and Estonia.[4] On September 8, 2021, the International Ice Hockey Federation disqualified him for five years.[5] For ten months, the International Ice Hockey Federation investigated his actions and found that Baskau used discrimination and threats against sportspersons because of their political views.[5]

Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Ice Hockey Federation banned all Belarusian national and club teams from its events indefinitely, and Hockey Canada banned Belarus’s “participation in events held in Canada that do not fall under the IIHF’s jurisdiction.”[6][7][8]

  1. ^ "BELARUS". IIHF.com.
  2. ^ "IIHF to move 2021 World Championship". IIHF.com. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Басков стал главой федерации хоккея. Он уйдет из минского «Динамо»". Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  4. ^ "Pro-govt athlete, official get Latvia's travel ban. They may be involved in murder of Raman Bandarenka". Belsat. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  5. ^ a b "Дзмітрыя Баскава дыскваліфікавалі на пяць гадоў" (in Belarusian). Nasha Niva. 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  6. ^ "IIHF suspends Russia and Belarus from international play amid Ukraine invasion - Sportsnet.ca". www.sportsnet.ca.
  7. ^ "Ice Hockey Federation bans Russia and Belarus from all competition, strips Russia of 2023 World Juniors". infobae. March 2022.
  8. ^ "Russia, Belarus Suspended From International Soccer, Hockey Over Ukraine Attacks". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.