“Boycott threats”, uncertainty among fans and political tensions: the ruling by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, Cas, to allow Russian national teams back into the World Championships is causing chaos in the ice hockey world. The Cas lifted Russia's suspension, which had been in effect since the beginning of the war of aggression against Ukraine, "because the judges considered the IIHF's justification for this to be insufficient."
The ruling is already having a strong impact on next year's World Cup in Germany. Seven nations such as the Czech Republic, Sweden and world champion Finland have already announced that they will not play against Russia. The World Cup would be a debacle. Nevertheless, the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) has ruled out returning the tournament. “We want to hold the World Cup in Germany next year and I am very optimistic that we will be able to do that,” said DEB CEO Frank Lutz.
Now one of the most important sponsors has announced that its commitment will be dependent on Russia's participation. The Strauss company from Biebergemünd has been a partner of the Ice Hockey World Cup since 2021 and has also sponsored the Champions League Hockey since 2014.
“We will forego any logo presence”
"After our partner IIHF reconfirmed the exclusion of Russia in July, the Cas decision came as a surprise to us. In our view, the time has not yet come for the Russian national team to return. In our view, the reasons for the exclusion from 2022 remain. Russia's participation would have had a significant impact on our assessment of a corresponding sponsorship at the time the contract was concluded," said a spokesman for Strauss to WELT, who does not want to rule out a withdrawal: "We are currently examining what is contractually possible and are in close communication with our partner IIHF.”
The logo of the family-run company has been an integral part of world ice hockey for years. If it is not possible for the company to withdraw from the sponsorship contracts, the company will still take action: "Our family name is on the advertising boards. We are personally responsible for which events we support with this name. If the Russian national team takes part in the 2027 World Cup in Germany as a result of the CAS ruling, we will forego any logo presence in the tournament environment."
The company is betting that it won't even get that far. The federal government is supporting the DEB in ensuring that the World Cup takes place as planned without Russia. The IIHF wants to diplomatically persuade Russia not to take part in the World Cup despite the ruling. As a concession, an orderly and permanent return from 2028 could be promised.
Visa refusal as the last step
"We welcome the federal government's position that Russia's participation makes hosting the tournament practically impossible, both from a sporting and economic point of view. We are therefore relying on the federal government to intervene politically in case of doubt. Since the IIHF also continues to speak out against Russia's participation, we expect that all legal options against the CAS's decision will be examined and, if necessary, exhausted," said the Strauss spokesman.
A political intervention would be to deny visas to the Russian national team. However, the federal government is still shying away from this ultimate step - probably also in consideration of Munich's Olympic bid. The federal government initially sees it as the IIHF's turn to solve the problem in the interests of the sport's autonomy.
