European teams announce plans to boycott games against Russia in ice hockey

The International Ice Hockey Federation said on Wednesday it maintains its disagreement with a Court of Arbitration for Sport decision to reinstate Russian teams, warning of “significant practical and sporting challenges.”

The statement follows announcements from Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Czech Republic that their national teams will refuse to play against Russia at next year’s men’s world championship in Germany.

The CAS ruled last week to overturn the governing body’s exclusion of Russia from international competition following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“As presented to the CAS, the immediate reintegration of Russian teams presents significant practical and sporting challenges, including visa and entry requirements, security provisions, logistical constraints and consequences for competition formats,” the IIHF said.

The CAS decision has sparked widespread backlash.

Latvia and Finland have also said their teams will not play Russia, while the Finnish city of Turku threatened to drop hosting duties for the 2028 world junior championship.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Russia and Belarus will be barred from the upcoming world junior championship in Alberta. Moscow criticized the move, with Russian ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov telling news agency TASS that Canada was “bringing politics even into junior hockey.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Carney was flouting the rules of international sport and denying Canadians the chance to uphold a decades-long tradition of matches pitting the two countries against each other.

“With its politicized decision, the Canadian government is directly harming not only the world championship being held in their own country but also hockey worldwide,” Zakharova said on her ministry’s website.

“The prime minister’s position seems even more hypocritical as more than 50 Russian hockey players are currently playing in the National Hockey League, which is iconic for any Canadian.”

The IIHF said it remains in dialogue with national associations, host authorities and organisers to determine the best path forward.