Norway and Finland stop Russian athletes

After Finland announced earlier in the day that Russian athletes were being stopped from competitions, the corresponding message came from the Norwegian government.

"Norway already has restrictive visa rules for Russian and Belarusian citizens, but is now further tightening the rules for who can travel here," says Minister of Justice Astri Aas Hansen in a press release.

The decision means that no athletes from these countries may compete in Norway as long as the war in Ukraine continues. The government justifies this by saying that elite sport in Russia has close ties to the Russian state and that it cannot therefore be considered independent of the Ukraine war.

Since the full-scale invasion, Norway has been against Russian and Belarusian participation in international sporting events.

Finland made the corresponding decision earlier today. The starting point for the tightening was the decision of the international court of arbitration, Cas, that Russia should be allowed to participate in ice hockey at the highest level. This despite the fact that the International Ice Hockey Federation opposed Russian participation.

The Finnish decision does not specifically mention athletes, but according to Sports Minister Mika Poutala (KD), it is clear that athletes do not fall into the category that will be granted visas in the future. The new guidelines apply from Monday.

Sweden's Sports Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD) says that the government shares the view that Russia should be kept out of international competitions.

- It is very important that Russian athletes are not allowed to participate in international competitions. That's what the Swedish sports movement, I and the government have been working on for a long time, he says.

At the same time, Sweden has not come up with any announcements like those of Finland and Norway. Forssmed says the government is analyzing the possibilities.

- We are also working hard in the EU system to come up with new guidelines that could make it easier to stop visas in the entire Schengen area, says the sports minister.

The Swedish national ice hockey team Tre Kronor announced last week that they will not play against Russia in an upcoming World Cup, but will leave the walkover if it becomes relevant. Forssmed supports the decision.

- We have had a close dialogue with the Swedish sports movement during this time and I am very happy for their actions, he says.