Eight nations back hockey boycott as Nordic clubs oppose Russia's return

Finland and seven other countries have said they will boycott ice hockey games against Russia after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling on its return to international competition, according to the Guardian. The newspaper reported on Tuesday that the court had ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation to admit Russia before the men's world championship in Germany in May.

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Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Austria, Latvia and Canada have joined Finland's position, the report said. The opposition comes as clubs and players in northern Europe describe the lasting rupture in relationships once sustained by matches, training camps and travel across the Russian border. Their accounts distinguish the prospect of a formal return to competition from the much harder process of restoring local cooperation.

Mika Toivola, chief executive of RoKi Hockey in Rovaniemi, backed the boycott in comments to the Guardian. The Finnish second-tier club previously played friendly matches against Russian opponents and hosted summer camps for teams from the Kontinental Hockey League. Toivola said allowing Russian national teams back into major tournaments while the war in Ukraine continues would be wrong. He described an end to the war as a prerequisite for rebuilding trust.

The disruption extends to amateur hockey. Janne Tervahauta, a player with Tunturi-Kiekko in the northern Finnish town of Ivalo, said he had lost contact with Russian teams since the invasion. The Barents Hockey League, which brought together teams from Finland, Norway and Russia, initially paused during the pandemic. The war subsequently ended the cross-border contact that had made the competition an important social connection for its participants.

Not every personal link has disappeared. William Sjøstrand of Norway's Kirkenes Puckers told the newspaper that he remained in contact with Russian teams and hoped matches could eventually resume. The geographical isolation of Kirkenes, far from other Norwegian towns but closer to several Russian communities, had made those sporting connections particularly valuable.

Margrethe Alnes of the Barents Secretariat, which organised the league, said the project had created friendships and activities for adults and children over at least a decade. She said much of that work had been undone over the past four years. Even after the war ends, she cautioned, rebuilding trust would take time.