Russia threatens Germany if banned from men's ice hockey worlds

Russia's ice hockey federation has threatened host nation Germany with compensation claims should it be banned from the men's 2027 world championships. 

A corresponding application has already been submitted to the ethics committee of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Russian federation president Vladislav Tretiak told the TASS news agency. 

This comes amid the heated debate surrounding the reinstatement of Russia to international competition by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the subsequent threat of boycott of the tournament from several nations and also sponsors.

Canada, host of the men's world junior ice hockey championships at the end of the year, announced it will not grant visas to Russian players. In Germany, the federal government declared that hosting the tournament would be "virtually impossible" if Russia participated. 

"Should Canada and Germany refuse to allow the Russian team to participate, we will demand compensation, enforce the postponement of the competitions, and impose sanctions on the organizers," Tretiak said after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other sports officials.

Several countries, including world champions Finland, have stated they will not compete against Russian teams.

The Finnish and the Norwegian governments also announced this week that they will not issue visas to Russian athletes. The restrictions will initially have the greatest impact on winter sports, with a number of competitions taking place in Finland and Norway.