OTTAWA – The federal government of Canada has announced that Russian hockey players will be barred from competing in the upcoming world junior championship taking place next month in Alberta, regardless of their possession of valid Canadian visas. In a statement released on Wednesday, Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden indicated that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada would take steps to individually assess and deny entry to Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials seeking to participate in the tournament.
Despite the new restrictions, some Russian players currently competing in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), which oversees the country’s three major junior hockey leagues, hold valid visas. Previously, Russian and Belarusian players were banned from the CHL’s import draft from 2022 until 2024, but this year, Russia was heavily represented in the draft, with 32 of the 114 players selected coming from the country.
This recent statement effectively signals the cancellation of Russia's anticipated return to the world junior championship. This decision follows a ruling last month from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which mandated that the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) reinstate Russia in international competitions. In a related report from Match TV, a Russian sports broadcaster, the country's hockey federation is demanding that the IIHF either allow Russia to compete in the 2027 world junior championship held in Canada or relocate the tournament to a different nation. This demand was reportedly submitted in a letter on Tuesday to the IIHF by an unnamed source.
Meanwhile, the Norway hockey federation revealed on Sunday that the IIHF had informed them of plans to include Russia in the tournament at Norway's expense. Norway had qualified for the championship and continues to express its desire to compete. The IIHF has yet to make any formal announcements regarding changes to the tournament lineup, as its official website still lists Norway among the ten participating teams.
Several hockey federations, including those from Finland, Sweden, and Czechia, have declared their teams will not compete against Russian players. Russia and Belarus have been excluded from international hockey competitions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which occurred with Belarusian support, in 2022.
In a statement made last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney reiterated that Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be permitted to compete in Canada while representing their nations as long as the conflict in Ukraine persists. The government's previous stance allowed individual athletes to partake as neutral competitors, raising the question of whether a team from Russia could participate under a similar designation. Van Koeverden clarified earlier this week that this neutral status applies solely to individual athletes rather than teams.
The world junior championship is scheduled to commence on December 26, 2026, in Edmonton and Red Deer. As Canada prepares to host the tournament, the implications of the ongoing geopolitical conflict continue to shape the landscape of international sports participation.
