Norway World Juniors Exit Hands Russia a Group That Refuses to Play It

Norway’s under-20s won all five of their games in Bled last December to earn a place in Edmonton. On Saturday the IIHF told them the place belongs to Russia instead.

The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association said on Sunday that the federation had informed it the day before of a new tournament setup. Russia enters the 2027 World Junior Championship as the tenth nation, and Norway, the lowest-ranked team in the top division, drops to Division 1A. Petter Salsten, the association’s secretary general, said Norway was aware of the position the IIHF felt compelled to take and would await further information in the coming days. The association’s position has not changed. Russia should not compete internationally while the war in Ukraine continues.

Russia takes Norway’s place in Group B at Rogers Place in Edmonton, alongside Canada, Czechia, Latvia and Switzerland. Every one of the four teams left in that group has refused to play Russia or barred its entry. Czechia’s federation says its team will not face Russia. Latvia’s parliament passed a law forbidding its sports teams from competing against Russia, and Switzerland’s federation said its under-20 team will not play Russia at the championship. Canada’s government will not grant the visas. The opening game on the schedule published in September, Czechia against Norway at 2 p.m. on December 26, is now Czechia against Russia.

Norway was among the first federations to refuse to play Russia. Its statement on November 3, about the men’s world championship in Germany in May, said playing Russia could expose its players and team staff to significant security risks. Salsten told The Associated Press the same week that Norway could be dropped from the world juniors to make room for Russia, because Norway was the last team to qualify. “If RUS is added, it is a huge possibility that NOR is out,” he wrote. The team removed to make room for Russia is one that refused to face it.

The place Norway lost was won on the ice in Bled, Slovenia, between December 7 and 13 last year. Norway beat France 8-2, Ukraine 3-2 in overtime, Austria 7-3, Kazakhstan 10-2 and Slovenia 9-2, scoring 37 goals and conceding 11, to finish first in Division 1A with 14 points. Nine of the players from that roster are eligible to return for the Norway world juniors team in Edmonton. Three of them, Niklas Aaram-Olsen, Tinus Luc Koblar and Mikkel Eriksen, scored ten points each in the five games. Norway’s aim was to stay in the top division for the first time since a run of three straight years from 1989 to 1991. The team had been promoted in 2023, relegated in 2024 after losing all five games, finished third in Division 1A in 2025, and won promotion again in Bled.

Norway beat Canada 3-2 in overtime in Zurich on May 31 to win the bronze medal at the men’s world championship, its first IIHF medal. Noah Steen scored the winner three minutes and 32 seconds into overtime. Finland took gold and Switzerland silver. Norway had come within one game of relegation in both 2024 and 2025.

The Division 1A tournament in Budapest runs from December 6 to 12 at the Vasas Icecenter, and the schedule the IIHF has published lists six teams: Ukraine, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Slovenia and Kazakhstan. Norway is not on it. The federation has published no revised schedule for Budapest, and no answer to the question of how a seventh team fits a six-team tournament that starts in 28 days.

The IIHF Council decided on November 7 that Belarusian under-20 and senior men’s teams will not play in the 2027 tournaments, after its Disciplinary Board partially upheld the Belarusian association’s appeal against the Council’s July 27 decisions but found no legal grounds to order immediate reinstatement. The federation cited formats, schedules, ticketing and logistics. Russia’s case went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ordered reinstatement. Belarus’s case stayed with the federation’s own board, which found no legal grounds to order its immediate reinstatement.

Skoda, the main sponsor of the world championships since 1993, told Agence France-Presse it would reassess its involvement if Russia takes part, calling the return incompatible with the values it has consistently upheld. France withdrew its para-hockey team from the world championship Group C tournament in Mexico in December. The Finnish city of Turku said it will not co-host the 2028 world juniors if Russia takes part. Russia’s sports minister, Mikhail Degtyaryov, said he expected Russia to be awarded wins if other nations forfeit their games.

On the r/hockey thread that carried the Norwegian association’s announcement on Sunday, one commenter wrote that there was no just scenario in which Russia replaced Norway, and that a whole host of teams would not even play against Russia if it got in, so having Russia slot in was a bad move on hockey grounds alone. Another wrote that the argument about stopping Russians from playing sport had collapsed, because the Russians were now getting preferential treatment over a country that had earned its place. A third, writing from Finland, said any Finnish or Swedish player who played against Russia now would be committing social suicide, and that in Finland the players would be held accountable whatever the level. Salsten’s statement asks for further information and hopes the final word has not been said. The thread asks for pressure to make sure Norway plays.

If Canada refuses the visas, does Norway come back? No one has answered. The IIHF has said nothing about it. Hockey Canada says it is still in discussions with the federation. The Canadian Hockey League’s commissioner called the situation very fluid. The court ordered Russia reinstated but ordered no measures for how that should work, and did not address what happens when the host country will not let the team in. The federation’s own statement on November 4 admitted the scale of what it was facing: the global impact of the court’s decision and the challenges it creates for everyone involved were significantly underestimated.

The IIHF has not said what happens to the tenth place if Russia cannot enter Canada. Its November 7 statement said only that it was exploring all available avenues with the member associations, including the Russian federation.