Ice Hockey-Finnish Hockey Body Leads Push to Keep Russia Out of World Championships
- On Tuesday, six European federations—Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Finland—announced they will refuse to play Russia at the 2027 men's World Championship in Germany, citing safety and geopolitical concerns.
- The boycott follows a ruling last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport , which overturned the International Ice Hockey Federation's ban on Russian teams, clearing the way for their return to international competition.
- Tournament sponsor AJ Products and Finnish tire manufacturer Nokian Tyres confirmed they will withdraw from the 2027 championship if Russia competes, citing corporate values that conflict with Russian participation.
- Turku Mayor Piia Elo stated the Finnish city will relinquish hosting duties for the 2028 World Junior Championship if Russia is allowed to compete, asserting the city acts "in accordance with our values."
- This boycott mirrors a 2022 soccer precedent where all of Russia's potential World Cup qualifying opponents threatened to refuse matches following the invasion of Ukraine; federations now emphasize playing Russia poses significant security risks to players and staff.
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133 Articles
Those who want to let Russia into the sporting heat argue that sports and politics must be separated. But choosing to play against war apologists like Alex Ovechkin is as political as refusing.
Sybiha thanks six countries for refusing to play Russia, urges other hockey federations to follow suit
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha thanked the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden for the public refusal of their national hockey federations to play against Russian teams and called on other countries, particularly leading hockey nations, to join this stance.
After Finland, on Tuesday four other nations expressed their willingness to boycott Russia at the upcoming World Championships: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Czech Republic.
Norway, Denmark and Sweden have stood up against Russia. The three Nordic federations have announced this Tuesday that they refuse to stand up to the Russian team in the upcoming Men’s Ice Hockey World Cup, to be held in Germany from 13 to 30 May 2027. A decision that comes after ... Continue reading "Denmark, Norway and Sweden stand up against Russia: refuse to play in the Ice Hockey World"
Five European countries refused to play with Russia's FM-2027 hockey team, as reported by Forbes magazine.
Russia must return to the Ice Hockey World Championship, according to the CAS sports tribunal. Playing against the Russians would cause "total chaos," according to the Danish federation.
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