Tretiak threatens claim if Russia barred from world juniors

Russian hockey federation president Vladislav Tretiak is threatening to seek compensation from Canada and to push for the relocation or cancellation of next month’s world junior championship in Alberta if Russia is barred from competing, according to comments reported Thursday by The Canadian Press, citing Russia’s state news agency TASS.

“There are rules: if a team does not take the ice, it receives a forfeit loss and sanctions are imposed,” Tretiak told TASS, in comments translated from Russian. “The IIHF has a way out: either allow us to participate or, if we cannot enter Canada, move the championship, not hold it at all or impose sanctions on Canada.”

Tretiak, a Soviet goaltender and three-time Olympic gold medallist, also said Russia would seek compensation from Germany, which hosts the 2027 men’s world championship, if Russia is denied participation there. He said the Russian federation has asked the International Ice Hockey Federation’s ethics council to investigate and punish national federations that organize boycotts of games against Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the same presidential sports council meeting that national federations were refusing matches against Russian teams under pressure from their governments, TASS reported. The agency did not name the countries involved.

The warning follows a decision by Ottawa this week. As we reported, Canada said Russian teams will be barred from the world juniors. Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden said in a statement Wednesday that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will assess Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials individually to keep them from the under-20 tournament, even if they hold valid Canadian visas.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be permitted to represent their countries in Canada while the war in Ukraine continues. The federal government’s earlier position had allowed individual athletes to compete as neutrals, which raised questions about whether a Russian team could play under a neutral designation. Van Koeverden clarified Monday that the exemption covered individual athletes only, not national teams.

The dispute traces back to an Oct. 30 ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that ordered the IIHF to allow Russian teams to take part in five international tournaments, starting with the world juniors in Edmonton and Red Deer on Dec. 26. Russia and Belarus have been banned from international hockey since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with Belarusian help.

Several national federations, including Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Norway, have said their teams will refuse to play Russia. Norway has said the IIHF bumped it to make room for Russia in the tournament. We reported earlier on how Finland rallied hockey nations against Russia’s return.

There are Russian players with valid visas who are currently playing in the Canadian Hockey League, the umbrella body for the country’s three major junior leagues, The Canadian Press reported. Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has suggested fans want Russian players at the tournament, CBC reported Monday.

The IIHF had not publicly responded to Tretiak’s comments when this story was published. Tournament organizers have not said what would happen to the schedule if Russia is excluded and the other nations face a forfeit under the IIHF rules Tretiak cited.

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