The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Friday that the International Ice Hockey Federation must allow Russian national teams back into international competition after barring them since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. IIHF president Franz Reindl called an emergency meeting of the federation's main decision-making body for Monday and Tuesday to decide how to implement the ruling.
The first affected tournament is the World Juniors, scheduled to begin December 26 in Canada. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told the CBC she is "not comfortable" with Russian participation, saying the decision conflicts with the geopolitical situation. Canada's secretary of state for sport, Adam van Koeverden, stated that Canada will maintain restrictions on Russian athlete participation at events hosted in the country that receive government funding.
Germany, set to host the Men's Ice Hockey World Championship in May 2025, is also reconsidering. A German government spokesman said the government takes a "very critical view" of the CAS decision and will discuss possible consequences with the German Ice Hockey Federation. The federation's chief executive, Frank Lutz, told broadcaster MagentaSport that surrendering hosting rights for the tournament was a possibility, though he said he did not want to "call the World Championship into question."
Several national ice hockey federations have expressed disappointment, including Ukraine, Sweden, Finland and Czechia. Latvia is prohibited by law from competing against Russian teams. Finland said individual players would be free to opt out of tournaments including Russia. Sweden's Ice Hockey Association chairman Anders Larsson, a member of the IIHF Council, said a boycott is not on the table but that "our position is that Russia cannot participate in international championships in the current situation."
The International Olympic Committee lifted its ban on the Russian Olympic Committee in July. The IIHF had decided to continue excluding Russian teams through the 2026-27 season over security concerns, but the CAS found this reasoning insufficiently proven. Russia's Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev told state television that Russia is "returning to world hockey" and that "discrimination in hockey has been brought to an end."