Sharp announcement – this country refuses to play against Russia: “Under no circumstances”
Latvia will not play against Russia or Belarus, even if the countries return to international tournaments. This was reported by the Secretary General of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation Roberts Plavejs to the national broadcaster LSM.
The Latvian sports law prohibits the national teams from playing against Russia and Belarus, regardless of where the matches are held.
– The sports law states clearly that national teams cannot play against the teams of Russia or Belarus. We will not in any case break these rules, Plavejs said to LSM.
However, Latvia does not plan to withdraw completely from the World Championships.
– As a federation, we do not have the option to withdraw from the tournament. It would cause a lot of financial, developmental, and other risks related to ice hockey, Plavejs explained.
According to the Director of the Sports Department of the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science Aleksandrs Samoilovsin, the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation and players cannot be granted state financial support for team sports competitions that involve representatives from Russia or Belarus.
– We are working closely with the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation primarily to ensure that the law is not violated, Samoilovs said.
CAS overturned the IIHF’s decision on Friday, which had excluded the Russian national teams from international tournaments for the 2026-27 season. The ruling affects the 2027 men’s, women’s, and under-20 World Championships, as well as the under-18 girls’ and boys’ World Tournaments.
IIHF expressed disappointment at CAS’s decision but intends to comply with it. The International Ice Hockey Federation still believes that the exclusion of Russia from the tournaments was justified for safety and proper organization of competitions.
Russia’s potential return also poses significant practical problems. According to IIHF, changes could affect tournament arrangements, match schedules, travel, and security.
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