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“Should Canada and Germany refuse to allow the Russian team to participate, we will demand compensation, enforce the postponement of the competitions, and impose sanctions on the organizers,” Russian Ice Hockey Federation President Vladislav Tretiak told the TASS news agency.
“There are rules: if a team does not take the ice, it receives a forfeit loss and sanctions are imposed,” Tretiak said after a presidential sports council meeting in Moscow on Thursday.
“The IIHF as a way out — either allow us to participate or, if we cannot enter Canada, move the championship, don’t hold it at all, or impose sanctions on Canada.”
Canada refuses to bend on junior tournament
The threat comes after the Canadian government confirmed Wednesday that it would not allow Russian players to take part in the IIHF World Junior Championship starting on December 26 in Alberta.
“Canada’s position is unequivocal: as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, there can be no return to business as usual,” Adam van Koeverden, Canada’s secretary of sport, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine.”
Following the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling in late October, in which it said the security concerns the IIHF cited for barring Russian teams from taking part in international tournaments was not sufficient, the world governing body pledged to work to comply with the decision.
On November 8, Norway said it had been bumped from the World Juniors tournament and had been informed by the IIHF that Russia would take its place. Several other national hockey associations said they had received a revised schedule for the tournament and stated they would not play against Russia. The IIHF has not confirmed the change.
Men’s tournament with Russia ‘effectively impossible’
Germany has been watching developments related to the World Juniors and host nation Canada closely, as it is set to host the IIHF World Championship in Gelsenkirchen, Mannheim and Düsseldorf starting on May 14.
With several nations saying they will not play Russia and major sponsors threatening to pull out, a German government spokesman described the prospect of hosting the tournament under these conditions as “effectively impossible.”
However, Germany has ruled out taking the Canadian approach.
Ronald Rauhe, Germany’s minister of state for sport, said Wednesday that refusing to grant visas was “not a solution for the [German] ice hockey federation [DEB], nor is it a solution for successfully hosting a world championship anywhere.”
At the same time, though, he expressed support for the DEB in its wish to host the tournament as planned.
“We believe that we should channel all our energy and efforts into helping sport — and ice hockey in particular — find a solution, which would, of course, entail excluding Russia from the World Championship.“
Munich’s Olympic bid and the IOC’s new stance on Russia
What makes things even more complicated for German officials are concerns that taking a hard-line on Russia could jeopardize Munich’s chances as it bids to host the Summer Olympics in 2036, 2040 or 2044.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently lifted its sanctions on Russian athletes and suspension of the Russian National Olympic Committee, opening the door for their return to competition despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The thinking goes that the IOC would expect national Olympic committees bidding to host an Olympic Games to follow its lead. The IOC is set to decide in the next few weeks whether Munich advances to the next stage of the process.
For now, though, the ball appears to be in the IIHF’s court, after Ottawa confirmed its refusal to grant Russians visas to play in the World Juniors. How the dispute regarding that tournament gets resolved could go a long way to finding a solution for the men’s tournament in Germany in May.
