Rotenberg: Russia Could Play 2028 World Cup of Hockey
Russian hockey federation official Roman Rotenberg says a return via youth teams first, then the senior side, is possible before the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.
Roman Rotenberg, first vice-president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, says he believes the national team could take part in the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.
"I think it's quite possible. As I've said before, sport is outside politics, sport unites everyone, but there are political aspects to it. It will be a difficult step, as it has been in football and basketball," Rotenberg said, in remarks carried by Sovetsky Sport.
He said the federation is working with the Ministry of Sport and the Presidential Administration on Russia's return to international hockey. The plan, as he described it, starts with junior and youth sides being readmitted first, with the senior national team to follow.
Speaking separately to RIA Novosti, Rotenberg said the federation's immediate focus is the 2027 Winter Universiade in China, calling it the first step back onto the international stage.
The IIHF suspended Russian national sides from its competitions at the end of February 2022 and extended that ban through the 2026/2027 season in July 2024. The Russian federation has appealed the IIHF's decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and that appeal is still pending.
Rotenberg was the subject of a profile on this site earlier this month, in which he recalled learning to skate on women's figure skates in Toksovo. His comments on the 2028 World Cup of Hockey are the clearest timeline he has put on a return, tied explicitly to a two-stage process and a CAS ruling that has yet to come.
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