MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. The Russian Sports Ministry and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) intend to submit to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) all documents regarding the boycotts planned by international federations against matches with the participation of the Russian national teams at next year’s World Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Championship, Russian Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Mikhail Degtyarev said on Tuesday.
TASS reported earlier that the national hockey federations representing Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Czech Republic announced their unwillingness to play matches against the Russian national team at the World Championship following the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) regarding the admission of Russians to the competitions.
The Latvian national team will not play against the Russia team at the world championship after the Baltics nation's legislature voted against doing so.
"All of these materials will be definitely submitted to the International Olympic Committee," Degtyarev stated.
"This isn't only about those countries that are threatening and blackmailing the International Ice Hockey Federation with a boycott, but also about the countries that are set to host [international] tournaments involving Russians. Russia keeps note of them," the Russian sports chief stated.
"I am sure that the court will rule against them and they will be deprived of hosting tournaments if they continue to follow the policies of their local authorities," he added. "All these boycotts are, in fact, directed against the sport itself. These countries are depriving both their own national teams of the opportunity to compete and a chance of facing off in a head·to·head match as well as leaving their fans without a spectacle. This is simply childish," Degtyrev said.
Degtyarev slammed the steps taken by international federations as foolish.
"The world is much larger than just Scandinavia or the Baltic states. They need to realize that there are a lot of eligible nations in world sports, everyone wants to compete, everyone wants a sports festival and they are already tired of discrimination based on national grounds against Russia and Belarus," Russia’s senior sports official stated.
"This is why I would like to call on all [sports] executives to hold them responsible - Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Latvia, which has joined them - and to come to their senses and return to sports, to what Baron Pierre de Coubertin created all this for, which was the idea that sports should unite peoples. Players should compete for their countries and win on the ice rink, not in the [media] headlines," Degtyarev stated.
IIHF’s ban against Russia, Belarus
In February 2022, the IIHF suspended Russia and Belarus from participation in international competitions over the developments in Ukraine.
The Russian national ice hockey teams were also barred from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy and IIHF President Luc Tardif told TASS in 2025 that the decision was made by the IOC and the IIHF had no say in this.
On July 30, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced a decision to extend Russia’s suspension from international tournaments until 2027. The IIHF stated that: "Following the IIHF Disciplinary Board Decision, the IIHF Council re-analyzed the Russian Ice Hockey Federation’s request that it be permitted to enter a Russian Team in each of the following IIHF Championships: IIHF Men’s World Championship 2027; IIHF Women’s World Championship 2027; IIHF World Junior Championship 2027; IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship 202; and IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship 2027."
In early September, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RHF) filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne against the IIHF decision to extend the suspension of Russian national teams.