On Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that Russia would be allowed to play in the men's World Cup in Germany in May. At the same time, Anders Larsson, chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) competition committee, confirmed to TT that the Russian team could take Ukraine's place in the tournament. This is because Ukraine is “last in.”
We have a number of practical issues to decide on. So we have to deal with that at the board meeting next week. We can confirm that, Larsson said.
Now Ilta-Sanomat reports that Russia's entry into the World Cup will not come at Ukraine's expense.
Ukraine will not be removed from the World Cup. I have discussed the matter with several different people, including the IIHF management, says prominent figure Kalervo Kummola, previously chairman of the Finnish federation, among other roles, to the newspaper.
The IIHF has scheduled meetings on the issue in Zurich on Monday and Tuesday.
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