Peskov called the situation with the boycott of Russian hockey players a dead end

Press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said that world hockey has found itself in a dead end after the CAS ruling on the return of Russian national teams to international tournaments. A number of national federations announced they would refuse to play against the Russians without leaving the tournaments themselves.

Otabek YusupovFirst published on tafs uz 8 November 2026 at 14:512 min read

The key facts

Peskov: the situation is 'a dead end for now,' no one knows what to do
On October 30, CAS obliged the IIHF to restore the participation of Russian hockey players
Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Norway, Denmark, Latvia and Canada refused matches against Russia

Peskov on the situation in world hockey

Press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, called the situation surrounding the admission of Russian hockey players to international tournaments 'unforeseen' and 'a dead end for now.' According to him, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) itself says the same: 'For now, no one knows what to do, but it is obvious that we must patiently keep working.' The interview was published by Life.ru.

The CAS ruling and the federations' reaction

The source of the dispute was a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dated October 30, obliging the IIHF to restore the participation of Russian hockey players in international competitions: the court found that the federation had not provided sufficient evidence to justify the restrictions in force since 2022. After that, several national federations — Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Norway, Denmark and Latvia — announced that they would not play matches against the Russian national team. At the same time, these countries do not intend to withdraw from the championships themselves.

Canada and Switzerland

Canada also opposed the admission of Russian players: the country's prime minister Mark Carney said that the Russian team would not be able to take part in the World Junior Championship, which begins on December 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer. The IIHF acknowledged the difficulties related to visas, security and tournament organization, and began consultations with national federations. In addition, as Life.ru reported, Switzerland refused to play against the Russian national team at the 2027 World Junior Championship — the decision was made after Russian hockey players were included in the updated tournament schedule, while the Swiss team intends to continue playing in the remaining matches of the championship.