The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Friday that Russia must be allowed back into ice hockey world championships, reversing a ban tied to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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Russia will be permitted to return to the ice hockey world championships after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned an exclusion that has been in place since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The CAS ruling, issued Friday, overturned International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) decisions that had barred Russia from events in the 2026-27 season, including both the men’s and women’s world championships. In its brief statement, CAS said there was a lack of sufficient evidence to support the IIHF’s security concerns.
CAS also said the decision did not address whether Russia would have to play without national symbols as a team of neutral athletes, as is done in some other Olympic sports, or other “organizational consequences.”
The IIHF said it was disappointed with the ruling but that it would act in accordance with CAS. In a statement, the IIHF said it “maintains that its decisions were necessary to protect the safety and security of all participants and safeguard the integrity of its competitions,” adding: “While the IIHF respects the authority of CAS and will act in accordance with its ruling, the outcome does not remove the concerns that informed its assessments.”
Russia’s Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov said on the Telegram app that CAS “recognized the demands of the Russian Hockey Federation on key points as justified.”
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