Three Nordic federations have now closed ranks against the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that put Russia back into IIHF competition. Sweden has not. And the man publicly contradicting the Swedish line is Nicklas Lidström, a Hall of Fame defenseman who sits inside the very organization he just disagreed with.
The CAS panel on 30 October overturned the ban that had kept Russia out of the IIHF since February 2022, ruling that the federation’s safety and security arguments were not supported by sufficient evidence. Russia is now cleared for five events across the 2026-27 season, beginning with the World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer that opens on 26 December.
Lidström, who advises Sweden’s national team Tre Kronor alongside his role as vice president of hockey operations at the Detroit Red Wings, was asked about the decision the day it dropped. He told Swedish outlet Hockeynews.se that he found the thinking incomprehensible while the war in Ukraine was still going on.
“The first thought is that we should boycott this,” Lidström told Hockeynews.se.
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His federation disagreed within hours. Chairman Anders Larsson told Swedish news agency TT that a boycott “is not on the table” for Sweden.
Finland first, then Norway, then Denmark
The Finnish Ice Hockey Association moved on Monday, saying its national teams would not play Russia in international tournaments as long as the war in Ukraine continues. Finland also said it would try to assemble a common front among Nordic and central European nations against Russia’s return.
Norway followed on Tuesday. The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association said Norway “will not compete against Russia during the World Championships in 2027,” citing player safety and its position that Russia should be banned from all international championships for the duration of the war.
Denmark joined the same day. Danmarks Ishockey Union chairman Henrik Bach Nielsen told Danish outlet Hockeymagasinet the Danish men’s team would refuse to face Russia at the Worlds.
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“Out of respect for ice hockey’s integrity, we cannot see ourselves playing against Russia as things stand now,” Bach Nielsen told Hockeymagasinet.
Larsson out of step with the neighbors
Larsson’s refusal to boycott puts the Swedish Ice Hockey Association in a different position from each of its Nordic peers, and against the public line of its own best-known advisor. The federation shares the Nordic disappointment with the CAS decision, but so far not the practical response to it.
The CAS panel’s reasoning explicitly backed Russia’s right to compete: three arbitrators concluded the IIHF had failed to produce sufficient evidence of safety or security grounds for continued exclusion, and ordered Russian teams back into the men’s and women’s World Championships, the World Juniors, and both under-18 tournaments.
For Lidström, the issue is not legal. He framed the war itself as the reason Russia should not be back on international ice.
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The World Juniors in Alberta is the first event where the clash becomes concrete. The men’s World Championship opens in Germany in May 2027.
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