Did the International Ice Hockey Federation ban Israel from international competitions, and was the ban still in effect as of February 21, 2024? Not quite: Although the governing body did ban the Israeli National Team from competing in its championship events, that ban was lifted shortly after it was announced for a competition. Both the initial ban and the lift occurred in January 2024.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on February 21, 2024. The image included in the post contained text that read:
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
The International Ice Hockey Federation BANS ISRAEL from international competitions
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Mon Feb 26 17:17:56 UTC 2024)
The claim seems to stem from a short-lived ban that the IIHF implemented against the Israeli National Team. On January 10, 2024, the governing body announced that it wouldn't allow Israel's team to compete in its championships "due to concerns over the safety and security of all participants in the Championships" (archived here). A press statement released on January 12, 2024 (archived here), provided further insight into the decision, with the IIHF stating that the ban would first apply to one of the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III tournaments, which was to be held at the end of January 2024 in Bulgaria (archived here).
However, the IIHF quickly reversed the decision for this competition. On January 17, 2024, it released a press statement that explained that the ban against the Israeli National Team was lifted for the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III, Group A after security and safety measures were assessed more carefully (archived here):
Following recent exchanges and extensive discussions with all involved stakeholders, the IIHF has received from the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Bulgaria and the related Organizing Committee the required confirmation for the safety and security support needed to allow the Israeli National Team to take part in the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III, Group A (WM20IIIA), which will take place in Sofia in the period of 22-29 January 2024.
Namely, the IIHF has received confirmation and details from the relevant authorities regarding all security measures that will be implemented to address the identified risks associated with allowing the Israeli national team to participate in this Championship.
The January 17, 2024, press release also stated that for future championship events, safety and security measures would be examined by the IIHF "on a case-by-case basis" and that the governing body would "strive to find the necessary conditions and support to allow the Israeli teams to participate."
The Israeli National Team participated in the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III and won its group tournament (archived here), as shown on a post published on the team's Instagram page on January 27, 2024 (archived here). The caption of the post, translated from Hebrew to English by Google Translate, opened:
Much respect to the Israeli team under the age of 20, who on International Holocaust Day brought home the gold medal in the Tier C League A World Championship and is making its way to Tier B in the World Championships of 2025. Good luck! Huge thanks also to all the team of coaches and trainers
Lead Stories could not find any further updates on this situation on the news section of IIHF's website (archived here). We reached out to the IIHF for comment on the claim and will update this story with any relevant response.
Other Lead Stories fact checks related to Israel can be found here.
