Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Hockey Canada both said Tuesday that Russian athletes will not be allowed to compete for their country in next month’s World Juniors in Alberta, despite their original ban being lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last week.
The CAS ruled on Friday that Russian teams can compete in upcoming men’s and women’s world championships, overturning the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)’s decisions to exclude them from its competitions.
Next month’s World Juniors is the first tournament affected by the decision, but Canadian authorities have doubled down on their stance.
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“While Russia and Belarus are supporting this illegal and unjustified horrific war in Ukraine, as long as that’s going on, there will be none of those athletes competing for their countries in Canada,” Carney said. “So, if you’re asking specifically about the World Juniors, the Russians will not be there.”
“Hockey Canada thanks the Government of Canada for today’s strong position that Canada intends to prevent Russian and Belarusian officials and athletes from participating under their national symbols in international sporting events taking place on Canadian soil,” Hockey Canada said in a statement. “We will be meeting with our Board of Directors this week to discuss next steps given the government’s clear position.”
Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Norway, Latvia and Denmark came out with statements signing up for a boycott of games against Russia as long as the war in Ukraine is ongoing. STRAUSS, a workwear company that is a top sponsor of the world championships next year, threatened to walk away after Finland announced Monday it was rallying other nations to refuse to play Russia.
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“We have been a partner of the Ice Hockey World Championship for many years and value our collaboration with the IIHF. Should Russia’s national team participate in the 2027 World Championship in Germany as a result of the CAS ruling, we will forgo all logo exposure associated with the tournament. We are also considering withdrawing as a sponsor,” STRAUSS said Tuesday.
Russia did not compete in Olympic hockey earlier this year, the first since 2014, which had NHL players, nor was it included in the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, four days after Olympic competition ended that year.
In a brief statement, CAS cited a lack of sufficient evidence to support the IIHF’s security concerns. Russia’s sports minister, Mikhail Degtyarev, told state television channel Vesti that “discrimination in hockey has been brought to an end,” and “this place rightfully belongs to us.”
The IIHF said in a statement after the ban was lifted it disagreed with the decision.
“We wish to express deep outrage at this decision, taken amid a full-scale war. The threats that were the reason for suspending Russian teams in 2022 have not disappeared. On the contrary, they have only intensified,” Ukraine’s ice hockey federation said on its website last week.
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“We believe that the safety of participants and the integrity of international sport cannot be considered separately from the realities of the war that Russia continues to wage against Ukraine.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
