The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Friday that the International Ice Hockey Federation must allow Russian teams back into its competitions, overturning a ban that had kept Russia out of world hockey since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The decision clears Russia to compete across the 2026-27 season, including the 2027 men's World Championship in Germany next May, though it leaves unresolved exactly how federations and tournament organizers will handle the fallout.
CAS Sides With Russian Federation, Rejects IIHF's Safety Case
The ruling came from a three-member CAS panel that ruled unanimously in favor of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation's appeal against its exclusion, as reported by The Athletic. The panel found that the IIHF's safety, security and other concerns were not backed by sufficient evidence, according to a CAS media release. “Today, CAS upheld one of these appeals, and the IIHF are ordered to allow the participation of Russian teams,” the release states. Under IIHF regulations, the panel noted, only substantiated security concerns could outweigh athletes' participation based on nationality — and the IIHF disciplinary board's evidence fell short of that bar, per the same release.
Crucially, CAS set aside the IIHF Council's decision with immediate effect but stopped short of ordering any alternative arrangement, such as requiring Russian teams to compete as neutrals. That means, per The Athletic's reporting, Russian squads are likely to return to competition in their traditional red, white and blue colors rather than under a neutral banner — a contrast with the approach CAS has taken in some individual sports, where Russian athletes have been allowed to compete internationally only as neutrals.
IIHF Says It Will Comply, But Voices Disappointment
The IIHF had maintained its exclusion of Russia through the 2026-27 season, citing safety, security, operational feasibility and sporting-integrity considerations, according to the federation's own announcement on IIHF.com. The IIHF Council reaffirmed that stance as recently as June, according to the CAS release. Following Friday's ruling, the organization said it would comply but made clear it was not changing its underlying assessment. “While the IIHF respects the authority of CAS and will act in accordance with its ruling,” the federation said, according to WSLS, while maintaining its decisions had been necessary to protect participant safety and competition integrity.
The IIHF also expressed disappointment with the immediate-effect timing of the decision and said the ruling carries significant practical implications for competitions already far along in preparation, per The Athletic. That concern echoes reporting from laola1.com, which noted that all affected final tournaments are already in an advanced planning phase, meaning reintegrating Russian national teams on short notice will require substantial organizational work.
A Crowded Calendar — And Germany Pushes Back
CAS's order covers five events: the World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer, Canada, running December 26 through January 5; the Under-18 Women's Championship in the Czech Republic in January; the men's Under-18 Championship starting April 22 in Duluth, Minnesota; the men's World Championship, which The Athletic reports will be held in Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Mannheim from May 14 to May 30, with the CAS release separately listing the men's tournament as taking place in Germany over that same window; and the Women's World Championship in Canada in November 2027. According to The Athletic, the men's championship field includes 16 qualified nations, and Ukraine is among them — a pairing that throws into uncertainty how the tournament will actually run, as WSLS reported. The World Junior Championship is the first IIHF event where Russia could return, per WSLS's account.
Not every federation is on board. Frank Lutz, chairman of the German Ice Hockey Federation, rejected the return of Russian national teams to international tournaments, according to The Athletic's reporting — a stance that complicates matters given Germany is set to host the men's World Championship. Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev said in a Telegram statement, also per The Athletic, that the IIHF must now ensure Russian teams can participate in relevant tournaments during the 2026-27 season, while acknowledging that implementing the ruling and reinstating Russian teams will be challenging.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Rulings on Russian Sport
Friday's decision was part of a longer CAS update addressing multiple appeals tied to Russia and Ukraine's exclusion from global sport, following Russian sporting authorities' two-year effort to challenge various bans at the court. The IIHF case stands in contrast to how a different CAS panel treated Russian curling: that panel dismissed appeals from the Russian Curling Federation and individual Russian athletes seeking reinstatement, leaving Russian adult athletes excluded from World Curling events through the end of 2026, according to the CAS release. That exclusion followed a vote in August by World Curling's Board to continue the ban for the remainder of 2026, per World Curling. CAS noted that World Curling had told the court some rival teams would refuse to play Russian athletes and that some countries would present visa difficulties — concerns the panel agreed addressed competition functioning rather than discipline.
The hockey ruling also lands against the backdrop of the International Olympic Committee's decision in July to provisionally lift its overarching suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, a move that remains subject to an ongoing appeal by Ukraine at CAS, according to the CAS release. For hockey, Russia's stakes in a full return are considerable: the country's teams, competing as the Soviet Union and later as Russia, have won 27 men's World Championship titles, second only to Canada's 28, per WSLS. The IIHF said separately that Russia's eligibility for the 2027 Women's World Championship will be reviewed independently by its Council in November.
