Canadian authorities have notified IIHF about the refusal to allow Russians to the youth world Cup
TSN writes that even Russian hockey players performing in Canada will not be able to perform at the tournament, including in neutral status. The Minister of sports Degtyarev said earlier that the Russian side has a “plan B” for this case
The Canadian government has officially notified the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the Hockey Federation of Canada (Hockey Canada) that it will not issue visas to Russians for the upcoming World Youth Championship, and that Russian hockey players performing in the country will not be able to perform at the tournament even under a neutral flag.
The World Youth Championships will kick off on December 26 in Canada and will be hosted by Edmonton and Red Deer (Alberta).
The IIHF, in compliance with the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), included Russians in the composition of the participants instead of Norwegians. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on November 4 that Russians will not receive visas.
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov earlier called the situation with the reaction of Western countries to the admission of domestic hockey players “quite deadlock”.
The Minister of sports and the head of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev on November 10 said that the Russian side “has a plan B” in case of refusal of visas. “We will not disclose it. Everything will be good for Russia and bad for Canada, he said.
The Russian national team at the 2021 tournament reached the semifinals and then lost the match for bronze, and the 2022 championship was terminated early in the group stage due to several outbreaks of the coronavirus in the teams and replayed in August, without the Russians. They were suspended from international competitions after the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine.
