Nordic nations refuse to face Russia in ice hockey World Championship
Denmark, Norway and Sweden join Finland in refusing to face Russia in 2027 World Championships in Germany next May.
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The head of the Danish ice hockey federation, Henrik Bach Nielsen, echoed that stance in comments to news agency Ritzau.
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“For the sake of the integrity of ice hockey as a sport, we cannot see ourselves playing against Russia as things stand now,” he said. “It will end in chaos if we do.”
Sweden’s governing body for the sport said the same.
“The Swedish position is crystal clear,” it said in a statement. “It has been and still is inconceivable for Russia to take part in international ice hockey as long as the war in Ukraine continues.
“Swedish national teams will not play matches against Russian national teams.”
On Monday, Finland’s ice hockey federation said it would use “all possible means to prevent Russia from being reinstated at the world championships”.
“We are currently trying to rally as many countries as possible into a common front to tell the IIHF that none of us will play against Russia in the current situation,” said the federation’s president, Heikki Hietanen.
The Finnish city of Turku also said on Monday it would withdraw from hosting the junior ice hockey world championships in 2027-2028 if Russia were allowed to participate.