EXCLUSIVE: Western Standard on the ground in Lviv as Ukrainians and foreigners weigh Russia’s return to hockey

LVIV - Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Antigua on November 3 that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not compete for their countries in Canada as long as the war continues. “While Russia and Belarus are supporting this illegal, unjustified, horrific war in Ukraine, as long as that’s going on, there will be none of those athletes competing for their countries in Canada,” he said. “So if you’re asking specifically about the world juniors, the Russians will not be there.”.I am writing this from Lviv. The World Junior Championship opens December 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer. That is the first event covered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that ordered Russia back into international ice hockey for the 2026-27 season.Canada has said it will use its immigration powers to keep those athletes out.The Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Lausanne, is the independent body that hears appeals against decisions by international sports federations. It was created in 1984 and reformed in 1994 so that it would no longer sit under the International Olympic Committee. Panels rule on the evidence and arguments the parties put in front of them under the federation’s own rules..On October 30, the court upheld an appeal by the Russian Ice Hockey Federation. It set aside the International Ice Hockey Federation’s decision to keep Russia out of events this season. The three-person panel — Giulio Palermo of Italy as president, Ismail Selim of Egypt, and Mark Hovell of the United Kingdom — found that the IIHF’s arguments about safety, security, and other concerns “were not supported by sufficient evidence.” Under the IIHF’s regulations, only substantiated security concerns can keep athletes of a particular nationality off the ice. The hearing had taken place in Lausanne on October 23 and 26.The order covers five tournaments: the World Juniors in Canada, the under-18 women’s championship in the Czech Republic in January, the men’s under-18 championship in the United States in April, the men’s World Championship in Germany in May, and the women’s World Championship in Canada next November. The panel did not order Russian teams to play as neutrals without flag or anthem. It also did not address the practical problems of adding a team to already-set groups, schedules, or security plans. Those questions were not part of the appeal..The IIHF has said it is disappointed and maintains that its decisions were needed to protect participants and the integrity of its competitions. After a council meeting it warned that the global impact of the ruling had been “significantly underestimated.” Visa rules, format changes, and security arrangements remain unresolved. Several European federations — among them Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Norway, Denmark, and Latvia — have said their teams will refuse to play Russia. Some commercial partners have said they will walk away if Russian teams take the ice.Russia has been barred from IIHF events since late February 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion. The federation extended the exclusion for the 2026-27 season earlier this year, again citing safety and security. Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev called the court decision the end of “discrimination in hockey.”.In Ukraine the reaction has been sharp. The Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine said it respects the authority of the court but expressed “deep outrage” at the outcome. President Serhii Mazur told Ukrainian media the federation is “categorically disappointed” and views the ruling as both unfair and damaging to Ukrainian hockey’s achievements. Western Standard reached out to Mazur to get any further opinions he has on the refusal of Canada to provide visas to Russians for the purpose of playing in the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships but did not receive a response. Mazur, elsewhere, has said the process moved unusually fast — a matter of days rather than the months that are more typical — and that the federation is seeking a meeting with IIHF leadership and speaking with national associations elsewhere. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the decision “unacceptable” and said allowing Russian hockey back “stains the ice with Ukrainian blood.”.National team captain Ihor Merezhko told the Kyiv Independent that sports cannot be separated from politics while missiles destroy arenas and kill athletes. He described the decision as “particularly painful” after Ukraine’s return to the top division of the men’s World Championship following a long absence. Ukrainian players continue to train under air-raid conditions.To provide some additional context: Western Standard travelled to Kyiv with the intention of interviewing players at one of the major arenas, but it was under reconstruction at that time due to being bombed fairly recently by a Russian air strike.Western Standard’s Marty Belanger has argued that young players should not pay for the decisions of political leaders. He has noted the history of the Olympics, when countries did not know each other well, and that sport, in spirit, gave different cultures and nationalities the ability to better understand one another and integrate..A Ukrainian local I spoke with in Lviv took a different view. “Unfortunately, we do know each other,” said Anastasiya, referring to Ukrainians and Russians. “I’d prefer if they didn’t play. Russian teenagers may not have caused this war, but Ukrainian teenagers and civilians have died.”An independent investigation by Meduza published in October documented at least 940 children killed since the full-scale invasion: 873 in Ukraine and 67 in Russia. The United Nations has verified roughly 874 child deaths in Ukraine. Those figures are minimum counts; the true numbers, especially in occupied areas, are higher. Ukraine has qualified for the 2027 men’s Worlds in Germany. That means, in theory, Ukrainian and Russian teams could face each other..I also spoke with Eddy Scott, a British volunteer who lost his left arm and left leg in a Russian FPV drone strike near Pokrovsk on January 30, 2025, while evacuating civilians. He now works as an ambassador and peer mentor at the Superhumans Center in the Lviv region. When I asked him how he would respond to criticisms that a double standard is at play — that the United States is allowed to compete despite engaging in at least one documented war crime fairly recently — Scott said the criticism was valid. He said the United States, and Israel in theory, should also be banned from playing.A British individual living in Lviv and assisting with drone operations for the Ukrainian military, who preferred not to be quoted by name, took a different opinion. “The sportsman and sports fan in me wants to see them play,” he said. “I also think it would be great for the game of hockey.”How the IIHF actually implements the court order — and whether hosts or opposing teams can still keep Russian sides off the ice — remains unsettled. Canada has already given its answer for the World Juniors.The practical test begins in Alberta in six weeks. Whether other countries follow Canada’s lead, and what that means for Ukrainian teams that have spent the war years trying to stay on the ice, is the question still open on the ground here.

EXCLUSIVE: Western Standard on the ground in Lviv as Ukrainians and foreigners weigh Russia’s return to hockey

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