Finland and Sweden refused to call hockey players from the Continental Hockey League and other Russian championships to the national team.
The decision came against the backdrop of a full-scale war ongoing in Ukraine.
It is reported by Reuters .
“The Finnish Hockey Association’s position is that players playing in Russia next season will not be able to play for the national team,” the Finnish Hockey Association said in a statement.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIF) has said it is leaning towards not selecting Swedish players working in the KHL but will make a formal decision at the end of the season.
“But what we can now state is that none of the players who participated in the KHL playoffs are eligible to participate in the World Cup tournament in Finland,” the SIF said in a statement.
61 hockey players from Finland and Sweden were playing in the Kontinental Hockey League at the time of the start of the Russian attack. After the removal of Jokerit and the voluntary termination of contracts, there were several such players left.
Recall that the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has deprived Russia of the right to host the 2023 World Championship.
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