Allowed Russia CAS judges faced accusations of bias

Two of the three members of the panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), who overturned the suspension of Russian hockey teams, faced accusations of a possible conflict of interest over a visit to Russia, reports Inside Paradeplatz.

On October 30, CAS ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to allow Russian teams to participate in international tournaments. Italian Giulio Palermo headed the board, which included Ismail Selim (Egypt) and Mark Howell (Great Britain).

On September 22, 2026, Palermo was a speaker at the Russian International Arbitration Congress (RIAC) in Moscow, and Selim a year earlier participated in a similar seminar organized by the Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration together with a Russian law firm.

Palermo was appointed chairman of the CAS board on October 9, after a trip to Moscow. All parties to the CAS proceedings had the right to object to Palermo's independence or impartiality, but none of them took the opportunity.

Palermo himself called information about his personal role in making a decision in favor of Russia “unfounded and extremely defamatory”, and also stated his readiness to protect his reputation by legal methods.

The admission of Russian hockey teams has caused outrage among a number of countries. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said he was negative about the arrival of Russian hockey players, but admitted that the old rules still apply. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the Russians will be denied visas for the tournament.

Also, the teams of Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Denmark refused to play at the World Cup 2027 with Russia. The head of the German Hockey Union (DEB) Frank Lutz said that the organization is considering the possibility of refusing to host the World Cup in 2027.