No, the International Ice Hockey Federation has not banned the Israeli team

Context

Posts on social media claim that the Israeli ice hockey team has been banned from international competitions amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Sharing an image of an Israeli ice hockey player, a Facebook user wrote, "The International Ice Hockey Federation BANS ISRAEL from international competitions." An archive of a similar post can be found here. 

Screenshot of the social media post circulating online. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is misleading. The team was temporarily barred from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in January 2024 for security reasons. The ban was lifted within a week, and the team was allowed to play in Bulgaria's 2024 IIHF WM20IIIA tournament.

Here are the facts

A press release by the IIHF on January 10, 2024, states that after "careful consideration, the IIHF Council has decided that, due to concerns over the safety and security of all participants in the Championships, Israel will not participate in IIHF Competitions for the time being." In another press release, dated January 12, 2024, the IIHF said it had, "decided to restrict the Israeli National Team from participating in IIHF Championships on a temporary basis due to safety and security concerns it had for all Championship participants, specifically including the players and team staff from all participating teams."

The press release states that while the event was planned to take place in Israel, it would instead be held in Bulgaria due to safety concerns. The release adds that the decision to restrict the Israeli team is "not a sanction against the Israeli Federation and does not affect the Israeli Federation's status" and that it could be revised.

Later, on January 17, 2024, IIHF announced that the Israeli national team would be allowed to participate in 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III, Group A (WM20IIIA), which took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, from January 22-29, 2024. This shows that the decision was revised before the claim about its ban surfaced online. 

The decision was revised after discussions with the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Bulgaria and the Organizing Committee that safety precautions would be taken to mitigate the risks identified should the Israeli national team compete. The Times of Israel also reports the same.

The IIHF website shows that the Israeli Ice Hockey team is also scheduled to play in the Women's World Championship Division III Group B, which will be held in Estonia from March 24 to 20, 2024, and the World Championship Division II Group A tournament, which will be held in Serbia from April 21 to 27, 2024. 

The Israel Federation of Ice Hockey website shows that the U18 Israel Men's team lost the game to Bulgaria on March 17, 2024, in the U18 Men's World Championship, which began on March 17 and will continue until March 23. This shows that the team was not banned, as claimed by social media users.

Screenshot of the list of tournaments in which the Israel Ice Hockey Team will participate in 2024. (Source: IIHF)

The verdict

The Israel Ice Hockey team is currently participating in international championships and tournaments. The IIHF temporarily restricted the team on January 10 before lifting the restrictions on January 17. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.