Canada will prevent Russian athletes and officials from entering the country for the World Juniors, the government said on Wednesday, November 11, effectively barring their participation weeks before the tournament begins. The World Junior Championship, for men’s under-20 ice hockey, runs from December 26 to January 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.
In a statement provided to Reuters, Canada’s Secretary of State for Sport, Adam van Koeverden, said the government opposed Russian and Belarusian participation in international sport “as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine with Belarus’s complicity.” He said the immigration minister “will take measures to individually assess and prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from entering Canada to compete, regardless of whether they already hold valid visas.”
Why Canada will bar Russia from the World Juniors
The decision follows a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport late last month, which ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation to admit Russian teams to five upcoming championships, beginning with the World Juniors. The federation accepted the ruling, but countries taking part in its tournaments have pushed back since it was made. Russia and Belarus have been banned from international hockey since Russia invaded Ukraine with Belarusian help in 2022.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that Russian and Belarusian athletes could not compete at the World Juniors in Canada while representing their countries as long as the war continues. The government said on November 3 that individual athletes competing in a neutral capacity could still take part in international events hosted by Canada. Van Koeverden clarified on Monday that the neutral designation applied to individual athletes, not teams.
What the World Juniors decision means for the draw
Norway’s hockey federation said on Sunday that the federation had told it Russia would be added to the World Juniors in Edmonton and Red Deer at Norway’s expense. The hockey federations of Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland and Latvia have all said they will not play against Russia. The International Ice Hockey Federation and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The government’s statement said the measures were not aimed at the Russian and Belarusian people. “Rather, they are intended to prevent the governments of Russia and Belarus from using international sporting events hosted in Canada as platforms for state representation, political legitimacy and propaganda,” the statement said. “Canada’s position is unequivocal: as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, there can be no return to business as usual. Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine.”
Visas and the players already in Canada
There are Russians with valid visas playing in the Canadian Hockey League, the umbrella body for the country’s three top major junior leagues. Russians and Belarusians were barred from the league’s import draft from 2022 to 2024 before being allowed back. The government’s statement on Wednesday said those holding visas would still be prevented from entering Canada to compete at the World Juniors.
Hockey Canada has been told by the government that it will not issue visas for Russians to play in the World Juniors, according to TSN. The report said Russians who hold current visas to play for teams in Canada are also ineligible, even under a neutral flag. The championship begins on December 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer, and the draw will have to be settled before the teams arrive.
The ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport was made on October 30, and it ordered the federation to return Russia to its competitions at once. That return was set to start with the World Juniors at the end of this year. Canada’s move is the latest hurdle in that return, and it leaves the federation with a team it has been told to admit and a host country that will not let that team in.
The championship runs from December 26 to January 5, and the teams that take part will be confirmed in the coming weeks. The federation has not said how it will handle the clash between the court ruling and the host country’s entry rules. For now, Russia’s place in the World Juniors is in doubt, and the teams that were due to face Russia are waiting to learn who they will play instead.