Canada joins coalition refusing to play ice hockey against Russia over Ukraine war

Growing number of countries are resisting Russia’s reintegration into international hockey after a sports court lifted a ban on competition Canada has joined a coalition of countries refusing to play ⁠ice ​hockey teams from Russia, with prime minister Mark Carney saying Russian skaters will not be able to compete in ⁠a world junior championship next month due to the war in Ukraine. “While Russia and Belarus are supporting this illegal, unjustified, horrific ‌war in Ukraine, as long as that’s going on, there will be none of ​those athletes competing for their countries in Canada,” Carney told reporters on Tuesday.

Carney’s comments follow announcements by a growing number of national hockey federations that they will not play Russian teams, after ‌a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to allow ‌Russians to compete in International Ice Hockey Federation (IHF) events. An IIHF ban on Russian teams took ⁠effect after Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in