The key facts

  • Slovak sports minister Rudolf Huliak called for allowing Russian hockey players into international tournaments
  • On October 30, CAS granted the appeal of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia and overturned the IIHF suspension decisions
  • Six European federations refused matches against Russia at the 2027 World Championship; Switzerland does not want to play the Russians at the 2027 World Junior Championship

Statement by the Slovak minister

Slovakia's Minister of Tourism and Sport Rudolf Huliak spoke in favor of returning Russian hockey players to the international arena. Speaking on the TA3 television channel, he said: 'Resolutely and unequivocally, [Russian] hockey players must take part in [international] competitions.' In his words, sport and culture should have no borders — they 'are obliged to bring people together and create equal conditions for them.' This was reported by Life.ru and Gazeta.Ru.

Context: the CAS ruling and Fico's position

Huliak had earlier welcomed the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that restored the participation of Russian national teams in international tournaments, but noted that bringing hockey players back onto the ice would require organizational decisions from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and competition organizers. Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico took a similar position: he supported the CAS ruling and stated that excluding Russian teams diminishes the value of international tournaments, since the fight for medals should involve competition against the strongest.

What the court decided and who is against

On October 30, CAS fully granted the appeal of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia, overturning the IIHF decisions that had prevented Russian national teams from participating in international competitions in the 2026/27 season. The IIHF said at the time that it would urgently assess the steps and time needed to implement the ruling. However, a number of European federations opposed the return of the Russians: according to Gazeta.Ru, six national federations — Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Norway, Latvia and Denmark — refused to play matches against the Russian national team at the 2027 World Championship in Germany.

The 2027 World Junior Championship

The IIHF confirmed the inclusion of the Russian national team in the schedule of the 2027 World Junior Championship: the team, which did not take part in previous tournaments, will take tenth place in the rankings and replace Norway. The Russians' first opponent on December 27 will be Switzerland, but the Swiss federation has already announced that it refuses to play this match. Thus, the court's decision formally returned Russia to tournament calendars, but its actual participation remains in question due to the positions of individual national federations.