Ice hockey in Belarus and several have also played in the National Hockey League in North America. Ice hockey in Belarus Ice hockey in Belarus is governed by the Belarus Ice Hockey Federation. Belarusian men's and junior national teams participate at the IIHF World Championships. Belarus has been a member of the IIHF since May 6, 1992. The national hockey team finished fourth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics following a memorable upset win over Sweden in the quarterfinals, and regularly competes in the World Championships, often making the quarterfinals. The Belarusian Extraliga was founded in 1992. Numerous Belarusian players are present in
Iran men's national ice hockey team Iranian Revolution, ice hockey and skating became banned, hence ice rinks got closed down. Farzad Houshidari is among the first Iranians who played ice hockey abroad. Houshidari became the first player who has started ice hockey in Iran and played professionally abroad. Although there were or currently are many notable players of Iranian-origin across the globe, Daniel Rahimi, Mika Zibanejad and Rhett Rakhshani all played in the NHL, Rahimi and Zibanejad have represented Sweden in international competitions while Rakhshani represented the United States. Currently there are two players of Iranian-origin in Oman, Mustafa Hamedi and Ali Reza Rasoli. Umut Taherzadeh