Russia’s hockey federation says it will seek compensation from Canada if its team is kept out of the world junior championship in Alberta, escalating a dispute over Russia’s return to international competition.

Federation president Vladislav Tretiak made the threat Thursday at a presidential sports council meeting, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS, as reported by The Canadian Press in a story published by Global News.

The announcement followed Ottawa’s statement Wednesday that Russian players would not be permitted to compete, even if they already hold valid Canadian visas. The tournament begins Dec. 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer.

Canada’s position comes despite a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling last month ordering Russia’s reinstatement to international hockey. That decision overturned a ban imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

According to TASS, Tretiak said the federation would demand compensation from both Canada and Germany if Russia were denied participation. Germany is hosting the 2027 men’s world championship. He also threatened to seek relocation of the tournaments and sanctions against their organizers.

Tretiak, a former Soviet goaltender and three-time Olympic gold medallist, said the federation had asked the International Ice Hockey Federation’s ethics council to investigate national federations organizing boycotts of games against Russia and punish them.

Several federations, including Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Norway, have said their teams will refuse to play Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the same sports council meeting that national federations were refusing matches against Russian teams because of pressure from their governments, TASS reported. The agency did not identify which countries he meant.

The IIHF barred Russia and Belarus from international tournaments on Feb. 28, 2022, following Russia’s invasion and Belarus’s support for it. Canada has provided military and humanitarian support to Ukraine.

Sources