Six hockey nations refuse to face Russia as sponsor threat deepens rift

The boycott bloc got bigger fast. Sweden, Norway, Latvia and Denmark all signed on Tuesday to refusing games against Russia at next year's men's world championship, pushing the revolt to six of the tournament's 16 nations after Finland kicked it off Monday. Sweden's federation reversed course outright, saying its board decided the "Three Crowns will not play Russia in coming world championship tournaments," in the words of federation head Anders Larsson.

Norway framed its decision around player safety, not just politics. The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association said Russia should be excluded from all international championships while the war in Ukraine continues, adding that playing under current circumstances could expose players and staff to "significant security risks." Denmark's federation chairman told the Ritzau news agency its teams would sit out too, and Latvia said it was reaffirming a long-standing position against facing Russia or its ally Belarus.

The money is wobbling as well. Finnish tire maker Nokian Tyres said it will drop its world championship sponsorship if Russia participates, with senior vice-president Tiina Frazer saying that continuing under the current circumstances "would not be aligned with our values." Swedish furniture company AJ Products, a tournament sponsor since 1989, said Monday it would ask for its logo to be hidden whenever Russia plays.

It all traces back to a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling last week that ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation to let Russian teams back in, starting with the world juniors on Dec. 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer. Hockey Canada says it is still chasing clarity from the IIHF on what that means for the event, while Canada's federal government opposes the return and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the province will comply with the ruling. The IIHF has not responded to the boycotts.

Austria told The Associated Press it backs Finland and Norway and is exploring a joint European boycott, and Germany remains unsure about hosting the men's championship next year. The Finnish city of Turku says it won't co-host the world juniors if Russia shows up, and the Czech federation — now part of the boycott — is hosting the women's under-18 championship in January and will talk to the government about whether Russian players can enter the country.

There's a playbook for this. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, every potential World Cup qualifying opponent threatened to boycott, and FIFA successfully argued at CAS that excluding Russia avoided "irreparable and chaotic" harm to soccer's showcase. Slovakia's pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico went the other way Saturday, posting that he wonders what a gold medal is worth without having to beat Russian players. The women's world championship starting this week in Denmark isn't touched by the CAS ruling and is going ahead without Russia.