WASHINGTON, November 11. /TASS/. The Canadian authorities informed the country’s hockey association and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) that they will not issue visas to Russian players for the World Junior Championship, TSN broadcaster reported on Wednesday.
The 2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship is set to take place in Canada between December 26, 2026 and January 5, 2027.
"The statement comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney declared Tuesday [November 10] that Russian players would not be permitted to compete at next month's world junior hockey championship in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta," according to the Canadian broadcaster.
"So, if you're asking specifically about the world juniors, the Russians will not be there," Carney was stated as saying.
According to various reports that came out on November 8, the IIHF had rolled out a new schedule for the tournament that included Russia, assuming that it would take part.
The national teams of Sweden and Switzerland have already refused to play against the Russians at the World Youth Championship. According to the rules if an opponent refuses to go on the ice, it's counted as a forfeit 5-0 loss.
TASS reported earlier in the month 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.