Russia's envoy says Canadians want its hockey team back on ice

Russia's ambassador to Canada, Oleg Stepanov, said on Wednesday that Canadians support the return of the Russian national hockey team to the ice, Russia's state news agency TASS reported.

Stepanov told TASS that Canadians find international championships dull without Russian participation.

"The Canadians we speak with do not share this view - they are unanimous in wanting our guys back on the ice," he said.

He added that Canadians say it is time to end what he called a political absurdity.

"Without the Russian 'Red Machine', the championships have become dull," he said.

His remarks responded to Canada's decision not to issue visas to Russian athletes for the world junior hockey championship, which will be held in the country late this year and early next year.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier that Canada would not issue the visas, and the CTV News channel quoted him as saying it was a decision Canada takes on its own.

On Oct. 30, the Court of Arbitration for Sport instructed the International Ice Hockey Federation to allow Russian national teams to take part in international competitions.

The ice hockey federations of Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Norway later said they were disappointed with the court's verdict.

The Finnish Ice Hockey Association announced that it was organizing a bloc of countries that would boycott matches involving Russians.

Russian teams have been largely excluded from international sport since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the IIHF has restricted Russian and Belarusian participation since then.

The dispute over Russia's eligibility has become a recurring point of tension between sporting bodies, European federations and Moscow.