IIHF bars Russia from World Juniors in Canada

The International Ice Hockey Federation has confirmed that Russia's under-20 team will not take part in the World Junior Championship in Alberta, Canada, after the Canadian government said it would not admit Russian players. The tournament remains in Canada, with games in Edmonton and Red Deer scheduled from 26 December 2026 to 5 January 2027, the IIHF said, according to The Kyiv Independent.

The federation said the Russian team was unable to compete "due to the position and restrictions formally communicated by the Canadian Government." It said an updated schedule would be published shortly.

The decision follows a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 30 October that ordered the IIHF to readmit Russian teams to five international championships, including the World Juniors. That ruling overturned the ban the IIHF imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had said Russian players would not be allowed in. "You cannot bomb Ukrainian cities and then send your juniors to Alberta to play hockey," he said, in comments carried by Euronews. Canadian authorities said Russian and Belarusian athletes representing their countries would be barred from entering Canada.

Vladislav Tretiak, president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, said Russia would seek compensation from Canada and possibly from Germany, which hosts the men's World Championship in 2027. Speaking at a meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow, he said he had asked the IIHF ethics committee to investigate national federations organising boycotts, TASS reported via Euronews. "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 said.

Several national federations, including Canada's, Sweden's, Finland's, Germany's, Czechia's and Latvia's, have said they will not play matches against Russia. Germany and others have refused to sign a new schedule if Russia is included, Frank Lutz, head of the German Ice Hockey Association, told a Bundestag sports committee, according to Euronews. Germany is considering dropping the men's World Championship in spring 2027.

Finland adopted a decree on 12 November stating that the entry of Russian citizens, including athletes competing under neutral status, poses a threat to its international relations. "As long as Russia's aggressive war continues, Russian athletes have no business in Finland," Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said. Norway announced similar measures. "The government does not want Russian and Belarusian professional athletes and their support staff to come to Norway to take part in international sporting events," said Culture and Equality Minister Lubna Boby Jaffery. Estonia told the International Ski and Snowboard Federation that Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be able to compete at events it hosts, including the junior and under-23 Nordic world championships in Otepää in January.

Norway's place at the World Juniors remained unclear. Euronews reported that Norway had been notified by the IIHF that it was being excluded to make room for Russia. The Kyiv Independent reported that Norway's federation said on 8 November it had been told its team would be relegated to a lower division, and that the IIHF had not clarified whether it would keep its place.