Ice Hockey Legend Leaves IIHF Council -- Federation Focus

(ATR) The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling against Russia in the WADA v. RUSADA doping case forces Vladislav Tretiak to resign from the IIHF Council and from the committees he serves on for the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Tretiak, 68, won three Olympic gold medals and 10 World Championships as a goaltender for the Soviet Union. He was elected to the IIHF Council in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. He has been Russian Ice Hockey Federation president since 2006.

Tretiak, however, is also an elected parliamentarian of the State Duma. Under the sanctions upheld in the CAS ruling, for the next two years no representatives of the Russian government may be appointed or sit as members of any boards or committees of any organization that has signed the World Anti-Doping Code.

"The Russian Ice Hockey Federation has always respected the decisions of international sports authorities and does not want to put additional pressure on its long-term partners from the International Ice Hockey Federation. For this reason, I have decided to resign as a member of the IIHF Council," Tretiak said in a statement.

The Russian Hockey Federation will nominate two-time Olympic medalist and former NHL player Pavel Bure to replace Tretiak, according to TASS.

The IIHF said the Council will continue with 12 voting members until the next elections, which are scheduled for September in St. Petersburg during the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress.

The federation will also be electing a new president to replaceRené Fasel. The Swiss, who has been in the position since 1994, was to step down in 2020 but his term was extended due to the electoral Congress being postponed because of the pandemic.

FIS Race Director Has COVID-19

The final week of the FIS Alpine skiing World Cup is proving to be a difficult one.

The International Ski Federation on Wednesday announced that men’s race director Emmanuel Couder had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in self-isolation. All of those who had been in contact with him have been re-tested.

Hannes Trinkl, a former downhill champion from Austria, has stepped in for Couder.

The final races of the season are supposed to be taking place this week in Lenzerheide, Switzerland but the weather so far is not cooperating.

Heavy snow and strong winds on Monday and Tuesday prevented the required training runs for the downhill and the races for both men and women had to be cancelled since the schedule has no reserve days.

The cancellations mean that Beat Fuez of Austria and Sofia Goggia of Italy, who came into the week leading the men’s and women’s standings in the downhill discipline, took home the titles. The overall title is still up for grabs with slalom, giant slalom and super-Graces still on the schedule for both the men and women.

World Athletics Council Meeting

The 224th World Athletics Council meeting began on Wednesday via teleconference.

The two-day meeting, chaired by federation president Sebastian Coe, is expected to include a decision on whether to allow Russian athletes to compete in international competitions again as Authorized Neutral Athletes (ANAs).

World Athletics on March 1 approved a final reinstatement plan for the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF), which had been a prerequisite for allowing up to 10 Russian athletes to compete as ANAs in events including the Tokyo Olympics.

The Council confirmed on Wednesday that 12 citieshave expressed interest in hosting the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships in 2023.Potential hosts will have to submit formal bids by June 1 with the World Athletics Council selecting the host city in July.

Coe will brief reporters in an online news conference after the conclusion of the meeting on Thursday.

Olympic Baseball Qualifier Nearly Set

The World Baseball and Softball Confederation confirmed on Tuesday that the postponed Olympic Qualifying Tournament of the Americas will be held in the U.S. state of Florida in the first half of June.

In a statement, the WBSC clarified that the exact dates and scenarios are "to be confirmed."

"The final announcement will be made next week," a WBSC source told Around the Rings, pending the consideration of the U.S. baseball authorities.

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Written by Gerard Farek

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