Three months after a court ruling, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation is demanding the postponement or cancellation of the World Junior Championship in Canada after Ottawa blocked the Russian team from entering the country, euronews reported.
The dispute stems from a Court of Arbitration for Sport decision last month that restored Russia’s right to play in international hockey competitions, overturning a ban the International Ice Hockey Federation imposed after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“You cannot bomb Ukrainian cities and then send your juniors to Alberta to play hockey, as if you were civilised people. No Russian or Belarusian teams at the World Junior Championship. Not under your flags. Not under any other flags. Period,” Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canadian Prime Minister, said.
Vladislav Tretiak, president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, threatened to demand financial compensation from Canada and possibly Germany, which is scheduled to host the men’s World Championship in 2027, according to [euronews].
Tretiak spoke at a meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow. He also appealed to the International Ice Hockey Federation ethics committee to investigate and punish national federations organizing boycotts.
“There are rules: if a team does not take to the ice, it suffers a technical defeat and sanctions are imposed,” Tretiak said, as quoted by [euronews].
“The IIHF has a way out – either they let us play, or, if we are unable to enter Canada, they move the championship, do not stage it at all, or impose sanctions on the Canadian ice hockey association,” Tretiak added.
Germany and several other countries refuse to sign the new tournament schedule if Russia participates. Frank Lutz, head of the German Ice Hockey Association, announced that stance at a Bundestag sports committee meeting.
National federations from Canada, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Czechia, and Latvia announced they will not play matches against Russia.
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