Russia urges IIHF to move Canada world juniors as hockey boycotts spread
The Russian Ice Hockey Federation has urged the International Ice Hockey Federation to postpone or cancel the upcoming World Junior Championship in Canada after Ottawa barred Russian participation, escalating a growing sports boycott.
The Russian Ice Hockey Federation is insisting that the World Junior Championship, due to take place in Canada next month, be postponed or cancelled after Ottawa decided not to allow the Russian team to take part in the tournament.
The dispute centres on a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month that restored Russia’s right to take part in international ice hockey competitions, overturning a ban imposed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Canada adopted this stance in response to the CAS decision, confirming that Russian players would not be allowed to compete in the 10-nation tournament, which is due to begin on 26 December in the province of Alberta.
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.
Russian President of the Ice Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak has threatened to demand compensation from Canada and possibly also from Germany, which will host the men’s World Championship in 2027, if Russia is barred from participation.
Speaking at a meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow, Tretiak also appealed to the IIHF’s ethics committee to open an investigation and impose sanctions on national federations that are organising boycotts of games involving Russia.
Russia had from the outset expected that visas for the World Championship would be refused, so the Russian Ice Hockey Federation was planning to put together a squad made up solely of players from North American NHL clubs.
However, Ottawa said that even these Russians would not be able to play for the national team in any case because their work visas do not allow it.
In addition, Germany and several other countries have refused to sign the new schedule for the World Junior Championship if Russia is included.
The head of the German Ice Hockey Association, Frank Lutz, confirmed this at a meeting of the Bundestag’s sports committee.
Boycott and visa restrictions spread
The next tournament in the ice hockey calendar is the women’s under-18 World Championship in Ostrava, Czechia, from 8 to 16 January 2027, but Prague has also made it clear in advance that it will not issue visas to Russian players.
For its part, Germany is considering dropping the men’s World Championship in spring 2027 against the background of a wave of boycotts.
Several of the world’s leading ice hockey nations have said they will not play matches against Russia after the CAS ruling that Russia and Belarus should be readmitted to international ice hockey competitions.
Meanwhile, Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany and far-left Die Linke have called on Berlin not to obstruct the participation of the Russian team.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is so far refraining from commenting on the dispute, finding itself at the centre of a rapidly escalating conflict.
A number of national federations, including those of Canada, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Czechia and Latvia, have already announced that they will not play matches against Russia.
Some tournament sponsors have also threatened to end their cooperation if Russia is allowed to take part.
For the IIHF, moving the World Junior Championship at such a late stage would be extremely difficult; it would also be very hard to find another country willing to take over as host from Canada.
On Sunday Norway said it had received notification from the IIHF that it was being excluded from the tournament, to make room for Russia.
The federation itself has not yet announced this change.
Northern countries tighten entry rules
Finland is tightening restrictions on the entry of Russian citizens into the country.
On 12 November 2026 the government adopted a decree stating that the entry of Russian citizens poses a threat to Finland’s international relations.
The new restrictions cover short-term work carried out on the basis of a visa, including professional sport.
As long as Russia’s aggressive war continues, Russian athletes have no business in Finland. Their entry into the country would pose a threat to Finland’s international relations. The same applies to other types of short-term work on visas that do not serve Finland’s vital national interests.
The restrictions will apply to all Russian athletes, including those competing under neutral status.
The Foreign Ministry said Russia "uses sport as a propaganda tool and seeks to exploit it to advance the aims of its illegal war of aggression".
Oslo has announced similar steps following Helsinki’s decision.
The Norwegian government intends to expel Russian and Belarusian professional athletes and their entourages if they try to enter the country to take part in sporting events while the war in Ukraine continues.
Since Russia continues its brutal war of aggression, 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.
The Norwegian government statement stresses that Russian elite sport is closely linked to the authorities and therefore cannot be "considered in isolation" from the war in Ukraine.
Belarus, it notes, has supported and facilitated Russia’s war.
The government decision, which will come into force "in the near future", could affect the participation of Moscow and Minsk in several events, in particular the opening round of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Lillehammer from 20 to 22 November.
At the same time, the authorities in Tallinn have notified the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) that athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be able to take part in competitions held in Estonia.
From 18 to 24 January, Otepää will host the World Championships for juniors and under-23 athletes in Nordic skiing, and in February the World Biathlon Championships will take place at the Tehvandi Sports Centre ski stadium.
"Estonia has firmly condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine from the very beginning. Since then, the Estonian government, the Ministry of Culture and the Estonian Olympic Committee have held to a common position that Russian and Belarusian athletes and teams must not take part in international sports competitions until the war in Ukraine is over," says a letter from the Ministry of Culture to FIS.
There were also reports that Russia has refused to take part in the European Boxing Championships for athletes aged 19 to 22, which will be held from 15 to 24 November in Porec, Croatia.
The reasons were the Croatian authorities’ requirement that they compete without the Russian flag and anthem, and the refusal to issue visas to members of the Russian delegation.
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