Russian return to ice hockey tournaments is ‘unwelcome,’ Carney says

MONTREAL — A decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport requiring Russian teams to be allowed back into international ice hockey tournaments is "unwelcome," Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday in an interview with POLITICO.

CAS ruled that the International Ice Hockey Federation can no longer bar Russia from participating in the coming World Junior Championship in Canada this December, as well as both the men's and women's world championships in May and November of next year, among other competitions.

On the sidelines of the EU-Canada summit in Montreal, Carney said he hadn't been aware of the decision, but noted, "It's unwelcome," adding, "I'll think about it."

Moscow has long used sports to project soft power abroad, and the ruling could make Canada an early test of Russia's return to international hockey, even as the war in Ukraine continues and other federations warn of security and political ramifications.

"The implications of today's decision by CAS are not immediately clear, and our organization is in contact with the IIHF to learn more," Hockey Canada said in a statement to POLITICO.

The IIHF, which runs the tournaments, also lamented the decision in a press release, but said it would honor the CAS ruling.

"The International Ice Hockey Federation expresses its disappointment with the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport to allow the Russian Ice Hockey Federation in entering a Russian Team in all IIHF Championships with immediate effect," the statement reads.

The IIHF banned Russia from international hockey after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and rejected recent efforts from its federation to reintegrate national teams this summer , citing "ongoing safety, security and sporting integrity concerns."

CAS wrote in its ruling that those reasons were "not supported by sufficient evidence."

Moscow is already planning its return. In a statement Friday on Telegram , Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, wrote that the "CAS ruling settles this issue, as it is final and cannot be appealed."

"Challenging work lies ahead as we work with the IIHF to implement the CAS ruling and secure Russian teams' return to competitions held under its auspices," he added.

But the Czech, German, Finnish and Swedish hockey federations blasted the ruling in statements Friday.

The German federation, which will host the next men's world tournament in May 2027, said the decision "would have significant security, political and economic consequences for [them] as hosts."

"I really hope the Danish team will pull out of the tournament," said Rasmus Jarlov , a former conservative Danish minister, on X. "It is not right to play sport games with Russia while Ukrainian athletes have to die at the front. I will be deeply disappointed if we participate."