Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Tuesday that his country will not allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships scheduled for next month in Alberta.
Canada, which is one of Ukraine's most prominent supporters in its war with Russia, has already condemned the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this week to allow the Russians to participate in the activities of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
The World Junior Championships are scheduled to be held from late December to early January.
“As long as Russia and Belarus support this illegal, unjustified and horrific war in Ukraine, and as long as this war continues, none of these athletes will represent their countries in Canada,” he said.
He added during a press conference at the end of a summit in Antigua, “So, if you are asking specifically about the World Junior Championships, the Russians will not participate in it.”
Earlier, the game federations in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Czech Republic announced that they would refuse to face Russia in the World Men's Ice Hockey Championship, which will be held next year in Germany.
Oleg Stepanov, the Russian ambassador to Canada, said that the decision is regrettable, adding in statements to the official TASS agency: “It is unfortunate that Carney’s office is interfering politics even in junior hockey competitions, which are supposed to be a unifying factor and not a cause of division.”
Unai Emery, coach of the English football team Aston Villa, admitted that the heavy loss to Barcelona, Spain, 0-3, in the European Champions League, showed that his team had not yet reached the level that qualifies it to compete with the elite European clubs.
The British news agency, PA Media, reported that Emery suffered another defeat at Camp Nou, coinciding with his celebration of his 55th birthday, after Lamine Yamal scored the early goal for Barcelona, before Rafinha added two goals in the second half, bringing the number of defeats of the Spanish coach in the 16 matches he played at the Catalan team’s stadium to 15 defeats.
This day was supposed to be an exceptional occasion for Aston Villa; His famous fan, Prince William, watched the match from the stands, in appreciation of the great development the team achieved during the four years that Emery spent at the helm of the coaching staff.
The Spanish coach succeeded in moving Aston Villa from the bottom positions in the English Premier League to the Champions League in just 4 years, but he realizes that his team still needs to go a long way to be able to keep up with the continent's top players.
Emery said: “Certainly, this test was not at the level we aspire to achieve, but there are a lot of things to be learned, and a lot of experience that we and the players can gain.”
He added: “This gave me a lot of information that I can analyze, so that we can compete at this level.”
He continued: “In general, we are performing great in the Champions League, but the match we played showed that we have work to do until we reach Barcelona’s level.”
He explained: “In some periods, we were close to achieving this, and we were also close to scoring goals, but we have to be more decisive in the attacking third. Perhaps the 3-0 loss was greater than we deserved, but we accept defeat.”
He added: “We still have a lot of work to do to reach this level. During the match, we were close to scoring because we created chances, but we must be more decisive in the attacking third.”
Esteban Ocon's career with his Haas team ended after the latter announced the exclusion of the French driver from the last four races of the season, following his ban from participating in the Mexican Grand Prix last weekend.
The team stated on its account on the “X” platform: “The TGR Haas team confirms to (Formula 1) that Esteban Ocon will not participate with it again in the (Formula 1) World Championship in 2026.” He will be replaced by young Brazilian driver Rafael Camara, 21 years old, in the Brazilian Grand Prix, which will be held in Sao Paulo next weekend. The American car park added: “Rafael will make his first appearance in (Formula 1) at home this year, after announcing last month that he was selected to be one of the main drivers for the (TRGR Haas) Formula 1 team in the (Formula 1) World Championship for the year 2027.”
After the Sao Paulo race, there are 3 races remaining in the season. The prizes are: “Qatar” on November 19, “Las Vegas” on November 22, and “Greater Abu Dhabi” on December 6.
Haas ruled out Ocon (30 years old) on Saturday before the start of the second day of the Mexican Grand Prix.
Ocon indicated that there was a “difference in views” with his team, denying “categorically” the rumors that spoke of a physical clash with the team manager. Japanese Ayao Komatsu.
For his part, Komatsu explained on Tuesday that what happened fell within the team’s “internal affairs,” stressing in a statement: “Such decisions are never taken lightly. We believe that this decision is clearly in the team’s future interest.”
The Japanese Ryo Hirakawa (32 years old) was hastily summoned to participate in the “Mexico Grand Prix”, where he finished the race in 10th place and won a point, but he will not be available to participate in Brazil, due to his commitment on Sunday to the 6-hour race in Montsa within the “World Endurance Championship (WEC)”.
Ocon reaches the end of his contract with Haas, which he did not succeed in proving his presence with for two seasons. He collected only 7 points this year, compared to 23 points for his English teammate Oliver Berman. In the absence of a seat for him for 2027, Ocon may remain in the world of “Formula 1” by occupying the role of a reserve driver. Ocon, who graduated from the Mercedes program for young drivers, is in his 10th season in Formula 1, and was scheduled to reach the threshold of 200 races in his career in Brazil. His record includes a victory he achieved in Hungary in 2021, in addition to being on the podium 3 times, all with Renault/Alpine. The most recent was in November 2024, when he finished second in the Brazilian Grand Prix, ahead of his colleague and compatriot Pierre Gasly, in a race that witnessed difficult conditions due to rain at the Interlagos Circuit.
