Germany seeks a way to host the 2027 hockey World Championship without Russia
A Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling requires Russia's reinstatement; the German government says its participation would make the tournament practically impossible to organize.
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Germany is trying to find a way to host the 2027 men's Ice Hockey World Championship without Russia, DW reported. The deadlock arose after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ordered Russia's reinstatement in international competitions for the 2026/2027 season. The country has been barred from the sport's tournaments since February 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to the report, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, heavyweight teams in the sport, have said they will not face Russia in any tournament, and sponsors have threatened to pull their support if the Russians are admitted.
On Friday (Nov. 6), German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said talks with several stakeholders, including the German federation and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), had made clear that Russia's participation would make organizing the championship "practically impossible" from both a sporting and an economic standpoint, because of the boycotts. He said he hopes for a diplomatic solution that would keep the tournament, scheduled for May 2027 in Gelsenkirchen, Mannheim and Düsseldorf.
The president of the German federation, Frank Lutz, has already acknowledged that the country may have to consider giving up hosting the event. The Foreign Ministry avoided saying whether it would grant visas to a Russian team, but indicated this would be difficult given the restrictions in place.
The first event affected would be the men's World Junior Championship, which starts on Dec. 26 in Alberta, Canada. On Tuesday (Nov. 3), Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney ruled out the participation of Russian players. Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, accused the countries opposing the return of violating his country's athletes' rights. As of Friday, the IIHF council had still not reached a consensus on how to respond to the ruling.