Czechia opposes Russia's participation in the 2027 junior Ice Hockey World Championship

Statement by the head of the Czech Foreign Ministry

Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka spoke out against the participation of the Russian women's national team in the 2027 junior Ice Hockey World Championship, which is to be held in Ostrava. According to Echo24, he explained his position by the risk of conflicts with protesters: “I cannot imagine that next year the Women's World Championship will be held in Ostrava, on the territory of Czechia, and I cannot imagine, if the Russian team were to appear there, how we would deal with activists who would block Russians from entering the arena in Poruba. Therefore, I do not consider their participation in the championship appropriate.”

Context: the CAS ruling and federation boycotts

The minister's statement came against the backdrop of a changed legal situation: on October 30 the Court of Arbitration for Sport fully granted the appeal of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and overturned the IIHF decision to suspend the Russian national team. The IIHF said at the time that it would urgently assess the steps and the time needed to implement the ruling and address its operational consequences. After that, six national federations — Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Norway, Latvia and Denmark — refused to play matches against the Russian team at the 2027 World Championship in Germany. In response, the IIHF changed the schedule of the 2027 junior World Championship: the Russian team, which had not taken part in previous tournaments, will take tenth place in the ranking of the upcoming event, replacing Norway in the calendar. Thus, the decision to admit the Russians formally stands, but its practical implementation is running into resistance from individual federations and, as Macinka's statement now shows, from the governments of host countries as well.