The International Ice Hockey Federation, just days before the puck drops at its world championships, is telling the Israeli men’s team to stay home, citing “health and safety” concerns. Israel, confronting this unsportsmanlike conduct, is suing in the Court of Arbitration for Sport at Switzerland to get its players on the ice.

The Israeli National Teams won’t participate in the men’s division, scheduled for January 22. The women’s team, training for the tournament at Estonia in late March, was also told on Wednesday to hang up their skates. After blowback, the Federation said on Friday that it’s reviewing the bans for the rest of the 2024 schedule.

This represents a sport record in cowardice. In its statement, the Federation said it had “decided to restrict the Israeli National Team from participating … on a temporary basis due to safety and security concerns.” After the October 7 attacks, they had already yanked the competition and moved it to Belgrade from Israel. 

Promises that the ban is “temporary” come as slim comfort to athletes. Since the IIHF groups set for January 22 comprise men under 20, some will age out of future games. All their early morning skates, drills, and workouts in search of a world title will be wasted. 

Players who sought to showcase their skills and maybe catch the eye of a pro league will be denied those opportunities. Jobs in coaching and management will also melt away, with the Federation setting the standard that having Jewish people around could be dangerous.

The Israeli Ice Hockey Association said in a statement about its court challenge that the “antisemitic decision to exclude Israel is an unusual and very serious step that does not meet any international sporting standard and stands in complete contradiction to Olympic values.”

The expulsion comes on the heels of last year’s competition for women at Tnuvot, Israel, which the Iranian team refused to attend. At the time, Iran’s all-powerful head of state, Ayatollah Khamenei, accused Israel of “trying to gain legitimacy by participating in international sports arenas.”

The Federation went on without Iran and this year at Estonia, the Israeli women like their chances to advance. Now, in what Iran can count as a win, the Federation said it’s going to “prioritize security and safety” by banning the Israeli men and leaving the woman in limbo.

The Israeli Ice Hockey Association said that “sources within the International Ice Hockey Federation suggest that the underlying cause of the decision appears to be” due to objections by Iran’s ally, Russia, and “the alleged capitulation” of its “chairman, Luc Tardif, to political pressures” from Moscow.

Athletic organizations have a responsibility to protect athletes from risks such as the massacre of Israelis during the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich. Achieving that goal by banning potential victims, though, precisely serves the ends of terrorists.

Such capitulations conflict with the Federation’s website, which states at the bottom of each page, “IIHF is committed to protecting everyone involved within ice hockey” and pledges “a zero-tolerance approach to integrity violations.” A button allows visitors to report any such acts.

This online boasting about fair play echoes the NHL’s slogan, “Hockey is for Everyone” Considered the world’s top hockey league, it has striven in recent years to advance public-action campaigns against bigotry in all its forms. 

Israel’s predicament comes as three Jewish brothers take the NHL by storm. In the 2019 draft, the New Jersey Devils selected a center, Jack Hughes, number one overall, the first Jewish player to achieve the feat. In 2021, the team picked Luke Hughes, a defenseman, at fourth.

In 2018, the Vancouver Canucks selected another Hughes brother, Quinn, also on defense, at seventh. Messages back and forth with NHL and the Devils didn’t produce a response by publication time. After October 7, though, the team, league, and NHL Players Association condemned Hamas and stated “We Stand with Israel,” facing down some backlash.

The world hockey community wields big sticks when it comes to pressuring the International Ice Hockey Federation to reverse its ban. Punishing players for being hated does nothing to realize the unifying promise of athletic competition. If hockey is really for everyone, there’s no integrity in icing out the Israeli players.