Six nations refuse to play Russia after CAS hockey ruling

As of 8:11 a.m. ET, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026

Six European hockey nations have now said their national teams will refuse to play Russia, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation to let Russian teams back into its world championships.

Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Latvia announced their positions Tuesday, Nov. 3, a day after Finland, and the Czech Ice Hockey Association said it would join them, Czech public broadcaster Radio Prague International reported.

What Sweden decided

The Swedish Ice Hockey Association's board decided Tuesday that Sweden's national teams will not play Russia in upcoming world championship tournaments, chairman Anders Larsson said in a statement on the association's website.

"Our position stands firm, and together with several other countries, we also agreed that we would announce the decision jointly," Larsson said, adding that Sweden had worked in close dialogue with the other Nordic countries. The association said it has been and remains "unthinkable" for Russia to take part in international hockey while the war in Ukraine continues.

The decision does not mean Sweden will skip world championships in which Russia takes part, the association said. It means Swedish teams will not play Russian teams.

The other federations

Czech Ice Hockey Association President Alois Hadamczik said Czechia would follow the position of the other European federations whose national teams have pledged not to play Russia, Radio Prague reported.

The Swiss outlet Swiss Hockey News, citing statements from the Danish, Latvian, Swedish, Norwegian and Czech federations and Finnish media, reported that Finland and Czechia would go further and not allow Russian athletes to attend tournaments in their countries. It also reported that Canada was refusing to issue work visas to Russian national-team players and that Germany, host of the 2027 men's world championship, was weighing its options.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thanked the six countries and their federations and called on other hockey nations to follow, the Ukrainian news agency UNN reported.

What CAS and the IIHF said

The IIHF had barred Russian teams after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In a statement on Oct. 30, the IIHF said it was disappointed with the CAS decision allowing the Russian Ice Hockey Federation to enter teams in all IIHF championships "with immediate effect," and said it disagreed with that part of the ruling.

The IIHF said its decisions had been necessary to protect the safety and security of participants and the integrity of its competitions, but that it respects the court's authority and will act in accordance with the ruling. It said the ruling affects the 2027 men's world championship, the 2027 world junior championship, the 2027 women's world championship, and the 2027 under-18 men's and women's championships, and that changes would require reviewing formats, schedules, travel and security.

The IIHF said it would urgently assess how to give effect to the ruling and would share details on implementation later. It had not publicly addressed the national boycotts in the statements reviewed.