Finland refuses to play Russia in ice hockey while Ukraine war lasts

Finland's men's national ice hockey team will refuse to play Russia for as long as Moscow's war in Ukraine continues, Ice Hockey Association chairman Heikki Hietanen said on Monday, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.

Hietanen told Yle Urheilu, the sports division of Finland's public broadcaster Yle, that the association would do everything in its power to keep Russia out of international tournaments after a recent ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"We have set our own position: Finland will not play Russia," Hietanen said in a statement issued by the association.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Friday that the International Ice Hockey Federation must let Russia return to international competition immediately.

Hietanen said Finland had been working with other Nordic countries and major hockey nations in Central Europe to build a shared stance and persuade as many countries as possible to follow it.

He warned that organizing games would be impossible if many nations refused to face Russia, but he did not name the countries involved, saying their associations were still discussing the matter internally.

Finland's sports minister, Mika Poutala, welcomed the position and said he believed Russia would not take part in the world championship in Germany next spring.

Emma Terho, a member of the Executive Board of the European Olympic Committees, also called the Finnish position firm and urged other countries to join it during an appearance on Yle's A-Studio program.

Hietanen had initially said after the ruling that the decision appeared incomprehensible, but that Finland would not boycott the championship and would abide by decisions of the sports court and the federation, the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reported.

That initial remark caused concern inside the association, because its board had not yet decided how Finland would respond if Russia were allowed to compete, the newspaper reported.

Russia has been barred from international ice hockey since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.