Latest news with #Tardif
IOL News
2 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Russia banned from ice hockey in 2026 Olympics
The IOC has ruled to extend sanctions imposed on Russian and Belarusian teams Image: Unsplash The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made the decision to ban Russian ice hockey teams from the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Luc Tardif, told TASS on Monday. Last week, sports broadcaster ESPN reported that the IOC had confirmed that Russian teams will remain barred from the 2026 Winter Games. 'For the Olympics – it's an IOC decision,' Tardif replied when asked by a TASS correspondent whether the committee's ruling regarding Russia's hockey team was final. In February, the IIHF ruled to extend its sanctions and ban both Russian and Belarusian teams from participating in the federation's 2025-2026 championship season. The IIHF, like many other international sports organizations, banned athletes from both nations at the IOC's behest following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The committee later allowed certain Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral flag, provided they pass a vetting process to determine that they have not supported the Ukraine conflict. 'The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place,' ESPN wrote last week, citing the IOC. 'It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team.' Last week, the Russian Olympic Committee announced it intends to challenge the national hockey team's ban. Moscow has repeatedly branded the IOC sanctions a perversion of the Olympic Charter, which is supposed to keep the Games free of political interference. The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in February, in the cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. RT News
The Hill
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
IOC keeps Olympic ban on Russia ahead of 2026 winter games
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that Russian teams will be barred from competing in the Winter Games in Italy next year — extending sanctions imposed over the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that started the ongoing war there. Reuters reported Tuesday that the IOC is extending its ruling from March 2023 that kept Russian teams out of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Individual Russian athletes were allowed to compete in neutral teams last year but not under the country's flag. That arrangement, which also applied to athletes from Russian ally Belarus, is expected to also continue. The IOC didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment and hasn't made a formal announcement. 'The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place,' the IOC told Reuters on Tuesday. International Ice Hockey Federation President Luc Tardif told reporters on Sunday that the IOC's statement extending the ban was expected. 'Recently they asked us to send them a schedule without Russia, so that's where we are,' he told and on Sunday. 'The official statement is pending but the IOC has told us that they are informing the Russian Olympic Committee that they are not participating in the Olympics.' 'We have been pressuring them to make a decision, one way or another, because we're getting closer to the Olympics and we need to know,' Tardif added. Russia, historically a powerhouse competitor in Olympic ice hockey and figure skating events, hosted the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
OFFICIAL: IOC Ban Of Russian Teams Remains In Place In 2026
The International Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday what had already been foreshadowed by the IIHF: The ban on Russian teams that was in place for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics will remain in effect for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina. As a result, there will be no teams representing Russia at the men's or women's Olympic ice hockey tournaments. 'The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place,' the IOC said in a statement on Tuesday, as reported by Reuters. 'It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team. We take note that the IIHF has confirmed that it will follow this recommendation.' As such, no teams of Russian players, as was the case in 2018 under the name 'Olympic Athletes from Russia' and in 2022 under the name 'ROC', will be allowed to compete. On Friday, numerous media outlets, including The Hockey News, reported on a claim by Latvian website SportaCentrs that, during its annual congress in Stockholm, the IIHF had agreed that Russian teams would not compete in the 2026 Olympic ice hockey tournaments. The federation had previously announced that Russia and Belarus would not be re-integrated into international competitions for the 2025-26 hockey season. On Sunday, IIHF President Luc Tardif clarified the federation's position on the matter, stating that the IOC had requested a competition schedule that did not include Russian teams, and that an official announcement from the IOC that Russian teams would be excluded was imminent. Russia Quarter-Century Teams Unveiled: A Wealth Of Talent To Choose From In the spirit of the NHL announcing quarter-century teams for each of its 30 franchises that have played since 2000, I thought I'd try a similar exercise by country – first and second teams. It's not limited to NHL performance, although that carries a lot of weight. International play for the country also weighs heavily. To be eligible, a player needn't have necessarily played for the country at a major tournament, but he had (or has) to be eligible. 'The IOC is the organizer – we only deal with the competition (the hockey tournaments) itself,' said Tardif. 'We have been pressuring them to make a decision, one way or another, because we're getting closer to the Olympics and we need to know.' Tardif continued, 'Recently they asked us to send them a schedule without Russia, so that's where we are. The official statement is pending but the IOC has told us that they are informing the Russian Olympic Committee that they are not participating in the Olympics.' That statement has now come to pass. As such, these will be the groups for Olympic ice hockey: Men's (Feb. 11 - 22) Group A: Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, France Group B: Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Italy Group C: United States, Germany, Latvia, Denmark Women's (Feb. 5 - 19) Group A: Canada, United States, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland Group B: Gemany, Sweden, Japan, Italy, France Photo: Russian players wearing "ROC" jerseys at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing © George Walker IV-Imagn Images Latvia, Denmark, Slovakia (and maybe France) qualify for 2026 Olympics Three teams qualified for the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Sunday by winning de facto play-in games on the last day of the final qualifying tournament.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
IIHF President Luc Tardif Clarifies Position On Russia At Olympics
On Sunday in Stockholm, before the bronze-medal game, the IIHF held it's annual press conference to on the final day of the World Championship. Naturally, questions from the media were dominated by news that was revealed by numerous sources on Friday that Russia won't be competing in the men's and women's ice hockey tournaments. According to quotes from and IIHF President Luc Tardif explained that, ultimately, that decision lies with the International Olympic Committee. And while a decision has not officially been made, the IOC has requested that the IIHF send them schedules that do not include Russian teams. 'The IOC is the organizer – we only deal with the competition (the hockey tournaments) itself,' said Tardif. 'We have been pressuring them to make a decision, one way or another, because we're getting closer to the Olympics and we need to know.' Tardif continued, 'Recently they asked us to send them a schedule without Russia, so that's where we are. The official statement is pending but the IOC has told us that they are informing the Russian Olympic Committee that they are not participating in the Olympics.' So the IIHF has sent the IOC schedules for the men's and women's hockey tournaments that don't include Russian teams, and we should soon expect to hear from the IOC that Russian teams won't be allowed to participate. Photo: Russian players wearing "ROC" jerseys at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing © George Walker IV-Imagn Images Russia Excluded From 2026 Olympic Ice Hockey Tournaments Numerous international media outlets are reporting that the International Ice Hockey Federation has made the decision to ban Russian teams from competing in the men's and women's ice hockey tournaments at the Olympic Winter Games next February in Milan, Italy. The decision was reportedly made at Friday's annual congress in Stockholm, Sweden.
CBC
27-02-2025
- General
- CBC
Without funding, Listuguj's only shelter will close. What happens next?
A shelter in Listuguj Mi'kmaq Territory in Quebec will end daytime operations after Friday and is expected to shut down entirely by the end of March due to insufficient funding. "It's awful because 13 community members have lost their jobs, and then we have [about] 20 people that have no place to go," said Cathy Martin, chair of Epgwa's'g Temporary Shelter's board of directors. The shelter, which opened in 2022, operates with eight beds and is often at maximum capacity. Due to its location on the Quebec-New Brunswick border, it also serves the nearby Mi'kmaw communities of Eel River Bar in New Brunswick and Gesgapegiag in Quebec, as well as providing services to non-Indigenous individuals from neighbouring areas like Campbellton, N.B., and Pointe-à-la-Croix, Que. Epgwa's'g was established in response to a growing crisis of homelessness in Listuguj, which has an on-reserve population of 2,076. "There's not enough housing in the community. There just simply isn't," said Martin. Martin credited the community and local businesses in raising $70,000 which allowed the shelter to open its doors. "The whole shelter, everything was donated in there… Every piece of furniture, every linen, everything," Martin said. "Community came together to build that shelter." Epgwa's'g has since relied on federal and provincial funding to sustain its operations. Martin said its primary funding source, the federal Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative, wasn't renewed for the upcoming fiscal year. 'A drop in the bucket' Martin said the board sought alternative funding through Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada and was able to secure $40,000 — but she said that's "a drop in the bucket" compared to what's needed. She criticized the federal government for prioritizing Indigenous populations in urban areas like Montreal over rural Indigenous communities. "Are you trying to lure our homeless into the city?" Martin asked. Martin said she felt the federal government was catering to urban voters by trying to show they were addressing the issue of urban Indigenous homelessness, but failing to address the crisis on reserve. "The true Indigenous homelessness that's happening in the community, nobody sees other than other First Nation people," she said. "So you don't really care. You don't really care if they're taken care of or not." Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada didn't respond to a request for comment by time of publishing. Maxime Tardif, media spokesperson for Quebec's Indigenous Affairs minister, said the province recognizes the "delicate situation" the centre is in. Tardif said the province contributed previously to the facility through its Indigenous Initiatives Fund IV program and said the province may be able to assess the shelter's needs again. "We remain open to discussions with the organization to assess the extent of its financial requirements following this drastic and unprecedented cut by Indigenous Services Canada," said Tardif. "That being said, it remains to the federal government to assume its responsibilities as a primary funding source for this establishment." Lack of options If Epgwa's'g closes, the nearest available shelter is about 100 kilometres away in Bathurst and can serve at least 28 people but is at maximum capacity. "We are currently facing a very similar dire situation," said Jeremy Rousselle, manager of the Bathurst shelter. It may be forced to close its doors by the end of next month because a partnership with the local youth centre ended. "I wish I could be of much more assistance. But sadly, besides space for one female, I have no place for anybody," Rousselle said. The New Brunswick Department of Social Development said it was working with community partners to try and find a solution to allow the Bathurst Emergency Homeless Shelter to continue operating without disruption. There are three shelters in Miramichi, N.B., operated by Miramichi Housing Solutions, with a combined capacity of 28 individuals. However, these facilities are frequently full. Luke Tucker, business officer with Miramichi Housing Solutions, said the possible closure of two shelters in the region was "absolutely brutal and devastating." "We are concerned about the closures of other shelters, absolutely, because that becomes an overflow into other parts of the province and things and it puts a bottleneck on services," said Tucker. Maison de L'Espoir de Mont-Joli in Mont-Joli, Que., about 170 kilometres from Listuguj, holds a total of nine beds but was unable to share information about its current capacity. A representative at Accueil Blanche Goulet in Gaspé, Que., about 300 kilometres from Listuguj, said it is at maximum capacity, but was unable to share the total number of beds.
