{"id":228960,"date":"2026-02-17T08:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/winter-olympics-star-banned-after-fighting-rival-as-country-release-statement\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:42:07","slug":"winter-olympics-star-banned-after-fighting-rival-as-country-release-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/winter-olympics-star-banned-after-fighting-rival-as-country-release-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Olympics star banned after fighting rival as country release statement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_e3eb14\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Pierre Crinon has been banned for the rest of the Winter Olympics by the French hockey federation following his fight with Canada&#8217;s Tom Wilson<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\">08:42, 17 Feb 2026<\/span><span class=\"ArticleTimestamp_updated-date__7qD4Q ArticleTimestamp_updated-date-with-published__iFKpF\" data-testid=\"byline-updatedDate\">Updated 08:51, 17 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36733588\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"A French ice hockey player has been banned after fighting at the Winter Olympics\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">A French ice hockey player has been banned after fighting at the Winter Olympics<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The French <a aria-label=\"ice hockeyLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/ice-hockey\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">ice hockey<\/a> federation has handed Pierre Crinon a ban for the remainder of the <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/2026-winter-olympics\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Winter Olympics<\/a> after his clash with Team Canada&#8217;s Tom Wilson during Sunday&#8217;s 10-2 loss. Canada thrashed France on Sunday, but <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/winter-olympics-ice-hockey-fighting-36727516\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Crinon and Wilson were involved in an unusual fight<\/a>, the first at an Olympics since 1998.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Before this incident, Crinon had struck Team Canada&#8217;s Nathan MacKinnon with a forearm and was then confronted by Wilson. Both players were instantly ejected, as, unlike in the NHL, fighting is prohibited at the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Neither Crinon nor Wilson received further punishment after Olympic officials chose not to suspend either player, but France has now acted. On Monday, <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/othersport\/2171789\/Winter-Olympics-hockey-ban-fight-tbk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">the FFHG released a statement confirming an internal ruling<\/a> made following a comprehensive examination of Sunday&#8217;s events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">They said: &#8220;Following the France-Canada game and the attitude of player Pierre Crinon, on and off the ice, Pierre-Yves Gerbeau, president of the FFHG and deputy head of mission of the French delegation, heard the player in an interview in the presence of Fabien Saguez, head of mission of the Olympic delegation, the national technical director of the FFHG, and the staff of the French Team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">MAKE THE MIRROR YOUR FIRST CHOICE! <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=mirror.co.uk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Click here to activate <\/a>or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;This interview also aimed to remind the player of the personal commitments he made as part of his selection for the French Olympic Team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;Regarding the match penalty for which he was sanctioned, the federation acknowledges the decision of the international federation &#8211; the body competent to rule on breaches of the rules of the game during the Olympic Games &#8211; not to take any further action against the players concerned.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36733589\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36733589\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The French Hockey Federation has banned Pierre Crinon for the remainder of the Winter Olympics for fighting Tom Wilson.\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36733589.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_The-French-Hockey-Federation-has-banned-Pierre-Crinon-for-the-remainder-of-the-Winter-Olympics-for-fighting-Tom-Wilson.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36733589.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_The-French-Hockey-Federation-has-banned-Pierre-Crinon-for-the-remainder-of-the-Winter-Olympics-for-fighting-Tom-Wilson.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36733589.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_The-French-Hockey-Federation-has-banned-Pierre-Crinon-for-the-remainder-of-the-Winter-Olympics-for-fighting-Tom-Wilson.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36733589.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_The-French-Hockey-Federation-has-banned-Pierre-Crinon-for-the-remainder-of-the-Winter-Olympics-for-fighting-Tom-Wilson.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Crinon clashed with Wilson\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Crinon clashed with Wilson<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MirrorSport#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;Nevertheless, the FFHG intends to remind everyone of the values of every player wearing the French national team jersey, as well as their duty to set an example, particularly during the Olympic Games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;Therefore, Pierre Crinon&#8217;s provocative behaviour upon leaving the ice, even though he had just been ejected from the game for fighting, constitutes a clear violation of the Olympic spirit and also undermines the values of our sport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;Consequently, a decision has been made, in full agreement with the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, not to allow his participation in the upcoming Olympic tournament game(s).&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">France face Germany in a vital qualifier on Tuesday morning, with the winners advancing to face Slovakia in the quarter-finals. The defeated team will be eliminated from the tournament.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36733591\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36733591\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Pierre Crinon #7 of Team France reacts as he gets ejected during the Men's Preliminary Group A match between Canada and France on day nine of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36733591.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Ice-Hockey-Milano-Cortina-2026-Winter-Olympics-Day-9.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36733591.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_Ice-Hockey-Milano-Cortina-2026-Winter-Olympics-Day-9.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36733591.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_Ice-Hockey-Milano-Cortina-2026-Winter-Olympics-Day-9.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36733591.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Ice-Hockey-Milano-Cortina-2026-Winter-Olympics-Day-9.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"The Frenchman has been banned for the remainder of the tournament\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The Frenchman has been banned for the remainder of the tournament<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Germany are considered favourites, but France have complicated matters for their remaining players following Crinon&#8217;s suspension. France are still searching for their first Olympic win, having lost all three preliminary matches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">France suffered a 4-0 defeat to Switzerland, followed by a challenging 6-3 loss against the Czech Republic. They then conceded 10 goals to Team Canada.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">However, Team Germany hasn&#8217;t lived up to fans&#8217; expectations. The Germans secured a 3-1 victory over Denmark, but then experienced an unexpected 4-3 defeat to Latvia. <a aria-label=\"Team USALink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/team-usa\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Team USA<\/a> then triumphed over Germany with a 5-1 scoreline.<\/p>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContentsEmbed_affiliate-contents-container__oTiet\" data-testid=\"affiliate-contents-embed\">\n<div data-testid=\"affiliate-content\" class=\"AffiliateContent_affiliate-content-container__10EX_ affiliate-content\">\n<p>Watch Winter Olympics 2026 live on discovery+<\/p>\n<div class=\"AffiliateDisclaimer_affiliate-disclaimer__dG5ST\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateDisclaimer_affiliate-text__8nmDa\">This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/affiliates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-container__JMDzM AffiliateContent_content-details__U6C2M AffiliateContent_has-content-img___LY95\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-content__QCkL9\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_content-image__FxPNL\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Content Image\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36597648.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s510b\/0_Untitled-6jpeg.jpg\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_content-price-details__OpMC_\">\n<p>\u00a33.99<\/p>\n<p>discovery+<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"AffiliateContent_content-buy-btn__xWiVO buy-btn\" aria-label=\"Buy button\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4qSiovb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Get discovery+ here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-container__JMDzM\">\n<div id=\"product-description\" class=\"AffiliateContent_section-content__QCkL9\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games is running from February 6-22 and fans can enjoy more than 850 hours of action live on discovery+ via Prime Video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Throughout the games, the \u00a33.99 discovery+ Entertainment subscription will provide access to TNT Sports 2, the home of 24\/7 Olympic coverage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/athletics\/winter-olympics-ban-fight-hockey-36733592\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pierre Crinon has been banned for the rest of the Winter Olympics by the French hockey federation following his fight with Canada&#8217;s Tom Wilson 08:42, 17 Feb 2026Updated 08:51, 17 Feb 2026 A French ice hockey player has been banned after fighting at the Winter Olympics(Image: Getty) The French ice hockey federation has handed Pierre [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6802],"tags":[12871,21017,69869],"class_list":{"0":"post-228960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-athetics","8":"tag-ice-hockey","9":"tag-national-hockey-league","10":"tag-winter-olympic-games"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}