Canadian Government Becomes Latest Hurdle In Russia's Return To International Hockey

It looks like Russia's return to international hockey might be delayed.

As first reported by The Athletic's Chris Johnston, Canada's Secretary for Sport, Adam Van Koeverden, confirmed that Russian players will not be allowed to compete at next month's world junior hockey championship tournament in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., even if they already hold visas to Canada. 

"The (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship) Minister will take measures to individually assess and prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from entering Canada to compete, regardless of whether they already hold valid visas.

"These measures are not directed at the Russian and Belarusian people. Rather, they are intended to prevent the governments of Russia and Belarus from using international sporting events hosted in Canada as platforms for state representation, political legitimacy and propaganda."

Reiterating what Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week on the participation of Russian athletes at the world juniors, the statement Van Koeverden released laid things out as plainly as could be.  

"Canada's position is unequivocal: as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, there can be no return to business as usual. Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine."

This all stems from the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) Oct. 30 order to the IIHF, which ruled that hockey's international body must immediately return Russia to its competitions. That ruling was set to start with the world juniors at the end of this year.

The decision was reluctantly accepted by the IIHF but the countries participating in IIHF tournaments, including those at the top levels, have been pushing back on the decision since it was made. 

The hockey federations for the national teams of Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland, and Latvia have all stated that they will not play against Russia, going so far as to say that they will willingly forfeit games against Russia and Belarus at international tournaments they are allowed to participate in. 

Norway put out a statement on November 8 to publicize the fact that they were notified by the IIHF that they would be bumped out of this year's WJC tournament despite earning a promotion after winning the U20 Div. 1A tournament last year.

This was an unfortunate turn of events, as Norway has likely put additional funding and planning into their world junior squad. Part of their statement was as follows:

"We are aware of the status and the measures the IIHF feels compelled to take, and will await further information from the IIHF in the coming days. We have previously made it clear where we stand on the issue of Russia's participation, where we believe they should not be able to participate internationally as long as the war in Ukraine continues.

"This also clearly shows all the practical challenges and immediate consequences for everyone involved when countries are to be reinstated immediately."

With the Canadian government getting involved to this degree, we are at a crossroads for what will happen not only at this tournament, but others as the trickle down effect will impact a number of events. There are decisions that need to be made, and they need to be made quickly. 

The Div. 1A tournament that Norway is supposed to return to is set to kick off on December 6, just three weeks from now. Travel, accommodations and countless other factors are going to need to be taken care of if they have to change course with a month’s notice. 

How will the world juniors look if the Canadian government refuses to allow Russian athletes entry into Canada for the purposes of international hockey? Will the IIHF continue with the changes to the schedule that need to be made and just have the Russian team forfeit each of their games? Will they grant Norway re-entry and keep top the originally planned schedule of events? 

Per Match TV, a Russian sports outlet, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation sent a letter to the IIHF on November 10, demanding that Russia be allowed to participate or that the tournament be moved to a country willing to host it.

Other host nations could simply follow Canada's lead, creating further obstacles to Russia's return to international competition. Turku has already stated it would refuse to host its portion of the 2028 world juniors in Finland if Russia is reinstated.

While Germany, which is set to host the men’s World Championship this spring, has indicated it could reconsider its hosting responsibilities.

Looking for alternative hosts for these events could ultimately wind up being a fool’s errand as well as the list of countries willing to grant visas is likely small and turning around to host an event this size so soon would be nearly impossible. 

Major sponsors, such as Swedish company AJ, a loyal IIHF partner for nearly 40 years, have stated that they will pull out if Russia plays. They are far from the only sponsor that would be looking to make an impact with their withdrawal. At the end of the day, money talks in sports and if sponsorships are threatened, it makes things even more difficult for the IIHF. 

The next steps are likely that the IIHF makes the decision to go ahead with the world juniors as originally planned, with Norway in the fold.

They can go to the CAS and state that their hands were tied by a multitude of factors, including but not limited to the Canadian government's refusal to allow Russian athletes into the country and an unreasonable timeline to alter hosting. 

This puts forth the questions for the next set of tournaments on both the men's and women's side. The IIHF will have to come up with a solution that likely isn't able to make everyone happy.

The IIHF member nations will have to continue to force the hand of the IIHF if they do not want to see Russia back on the ice any time soon. The CAS will have to continue to push their ruling, backing their decision as they have done repeatedly to this point. 

International hockey is stuck between a rock and a hard place. There are a number of things still to be worked out, and the story is likely to continue developing over the next few weeks and months.

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