CAS's decision covers the men's World Cup and the 2027 World Junior Championship, the women's World Cup in November of the same year, and the 2027 U18 World Cup for both girls and boys.
The decision creates challenges because the group assignments and schedules for both the men's and women's World Championships have already been determined, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) writes in a press release.
The minister: “Offensive”
Sports Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD) reacted strongly to the announcement.
"It is a remarkable decision. Nothing has changed: Russia continues to wage an offensive war against Ukraine - another member of the Ice Hockey Federation, and being unable to suspend such a country seems offensive," he writes in a comment to TT.
Forssmed continued:
"CAS's decision contributes to normalizing the war, increasing Putin's opportunities to use sports for propaganda, and making sports a path back to international legitimacy for Russia."
The IIHF has banned Russian national teams from its championships since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has expressed disappointment with CAS's decision.
"The IIHF disagrees with the decision and maintains that our decision was necessary to protect the safety of all participants in the tournaments."
The federation said at the same time that it would comply with CAS's decision, but emphasized that concerns about the security situation remained.
Boycott not an option
This summer, it was decided that Russian athletes would be allowed to participate in the Olympics regardless of their political stance.
This prompted Swedish hockey to react. Anders Larsson, chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, was highly critical of the decision.
"Our position is unchanged. It has been the same since the war broke out: we think it is completely wrong for Russians to participate in the current situation," he told TT at the time.
A boycott by Swedish ice hockey was not considered, even though Russia was set to be welcomed back to the World Cup.
"You have to remember that a boycott can have very far-reaching consequences, because you are basically being washed out. In a World Cup context, you are demoted from the higher levels, have to start over at a much lower level and much more," Larsson said.
The World Junior Championship will be played from December 26 to January 5 in the Canadian cities of Edmonton and Red Deer.
The men's World Cup will be held from May 13–30 in Düsseldorf and Mannheim, Germany. Sweden will face Ukraine in its opening group-stage match.
