GENEVA, November 5. /TASS/. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has reiterated that the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has not provided sufficient evidence to justify the exclusion of Russian national teams from international tournaments, the statement from the Swiss-based court said on Thursday.
"The CAS Panel examined whether the IIHF’s decisions not to reintegrate Russian teams in July 2026 were made in accordance with the applicable IIHF statues and regulations. The CAS Panel found that the IIHF did not present sufficient evidence to establish the legal requirements for the nonparticipation of Russian teams," the statement reads.
"The CAS Panel remarked that internal processes within the IIHF had previously raised this concern," according to the statement.
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.
