Norway calls replacing Ukraine with Russia at the 2027 Hockey World Championship absurd

Norway's position following the CAS decision

Petter Salsten, Secretary General of the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation, called absurd the idea of replacing Ukraine with Russia at the 2027 World Championship. His words are reported by the Norwegian news agency NTB, as cited by Gazeta.Ru.

Context: the suspension has been overturned by the court

The criticism came after the Court of Arbitration for Sport fully upheld the appeal of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation on October 30 and overturned the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) decision to suspend the national team. The IIHF stressed that it would urgently assess the steps and the time needed to implement the ruling and address its operational consequences. The question of which spot at the 2027 tournament the Russian team will receive and at whose expense remains open: the publication contains no information about specific plans for reallocating quotas.

Reactions from other countries

In addition to Norway's position, the outlet notes, citing earlier reports, that Sweden does not intend to boycott hockey tournaments involving Russia. Separately, Gazeta.Ru recalls that on July 7 the International Olympic Committee temporarily lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and recommended that federations remove restrictions on Russian athletes, declaring the previous recommendations obsolete.