GENEVA, November 5. /TASS/. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has acknowledged the reaction of a number of hockey federations to the decision to allow Russian national teams to participate in the tournaments licensed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the CAS said in a statement on Thursday.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) acknowledges the divisive reaction to the ruling issued on Friday 30 October 2026 by a CAS Panel concerning the participation of Russian teams in International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) competitions," the statement reads

"CAS wishes to reiterate that as an independent sports arbitration institution, rulings are made on the legal substance of an appeal and on the sole basis of the arguments and evidence submitted by the Parties," according to the statement from the Swiss-based court.

TASS reported earlier in the week 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.

IIHF’s ban against Russia, Belarus

In February 2022, the International Ice Hockey Federation (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.