America’s future in international competition in the event of war

Things are not going well in the world.
The United States is in the middle of a conflict with Iran, and the situation seems to be getting worse by the day. At some point, the U.S. could go to war.
But if the U.S. does go to war, will it be banned from international competitions? That’s what happened with Russia, which invaded Ukraine. Since the war, Russian athletes have no longer been allowed to take part in the Olympic Games, nor in IIHF hockey competitions.
In an interview with TVA Sports’ Jean-Charles Lajoie, IIHF President Luc Tardif made it clear that such a situation involving the USA would give rise to a great deal of reflection.
If Russia is excluded from the 2026 Olympic Games because of the war in Ukraine, what happens to the USA if it goes to war?
We put the question to Luc Tardif president of IIHF two weeks ago @jic_tvasports
(Debut at 6m11)https://t.co/fcT25SJaEa– Mathieu Bédard (@MatBedardTva) June 19, 2025
To begin with, the main interest of Luc Tardif and his team is the safety of the competition and its athletes. Russia remains banned from international competitions because they generally take place on the European continent, where tensions are very high in relation to Russia.
A war between the USA and Iran might not force international competitions to ban the country. As Luc Tardif explains, the Americans were at war with Iraq, but they weren’t banned from the Olympic Games during that time.
It’s also important to understand that times change, and the vision of things is no longer the same. So it could be that the United States will suffer, unlike when it was at war with Iraq.
Another thing to note is that the next Summer Olympics will be held in the United States, in Los Angeles.
The organization of the Olympics is always extremely complicated, and it would take something seriously serious to have to completely relocate the Olympic Games. In any case, banning the host country from the Olympic Games would be madness.
Nor should we forget that Russia is banned because it is trying to take Ukraine by force. The United States would not go to war to control Iran, but rather to defend its allies in Israel.
There are a lot of “ifs” in this story, but the best we can do is hope that no war breaks out.
Overtime
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