“Russians will not be there” – Canada’s Prime Minister makes it clear

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has categorically ruled out the possibility of a Russian ice hockey team taking part in the U20 World Championships at the end of the year in Canada. In doing so, Carney clearly opposed a decision by the International Sports Court Cas, which had approved the readmission of Russian teams to ice hockey tournaments.

As long as Russia and its ally Belarus supported the “illegal and unjustified terrible war” against Ukraine, none of their athletes would compete for their countries in Canada, Carney said on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit on Tuesday (local time). “So if you ask specifically about the Junior World Championships – the Russians won’t be there,” the Canadian leader added.

This could be implemented by refusing visas. The Netherlands recently banned Russian gymnasts from entering the World Championships in Rotterdam.

Canada's ice hockey federation thanked the government in a statement for its strong position preventing athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus from participating in international sporting events in Canada under their national symbols.

The Junior World Championships will take place from December 26th to January 5th, 2027 in Edmonton and Red Deer in the Canadian province of Alberta. The ten participants so far include the German U20 team, but not the Russian one. The newly elected German World Association President Franz Reindl said at the weekend that no official statement from the Canadian government had yet reached the association or the organizers.

A number of boycott threats are made

After ice hockey world champion Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Latvia had previously announced that they would not compete against Russia. The Czech association president also supported a boycott. The Finnish city of Turku had announced that it would no longer be available as a co-host of the U20 World Cup scheduled for the turn of the year 2027/2028 if Russia took part.

The next World Championship for A teams is planned for May 14th to 30th, 2027 in Düsseldorf and Mannheim. Russia would be eligible to play after the Cas Sports Court had upheld an appeal by the Russian Ice Hockey Association against the world association IIHF for re-admission.

The German Ice Hockey Association is currently examining whether it can host the World Cup and is reportedly also considering the option of returning it. A government spokesman had announced that the federal government would promptly discuss the possible consequences of the Cas ruling with the DEB.

Since the end of February 2022, Russia has been excluded from all international tournaments and world championships by the world association due to the war of aggression against Ukraine. A few days before the start of the war, Russia's team lost the Olympic final in Beijing 1-2 against Finland.