Finland's ice hockey federation has decided it will not play against Russia at the World Championship, abandoning its earlier position that a boycott was not the right response, according to Aftonbladet.
The Finnish federation had previously shared Sweden's stance: opposing the CAS ruling that readmitted Russia and Belarus to international ice hockey's top level, while arguing that refusing to play was not the way forward. That position drew heavy criticism in both countries, and Finland has now changed course, Aftonbladet reports.
Why it matters
The shift puts one of the sport's strongest nations behind a boycott that could, if widely adopted, make the tournament unworkable. The next men's World Championship is scheduled for Germany this spring. As things stand, the Russian national team could also return at the World Junior Championship in Canada in late December.
Finland's move also raises pressure on Sweden and other federations to decide where they stand, and it turns a dispute over eligibility rules into a question of whether the championship can be staged as planned.
A push for a common front
Federation chair Hietanen told Yle, as reported by Aftonbladet, that Finland is looking to build a shared position with the other Nordic countries and with the major hockey nations of Central Europe.
He said that if enough countries refuse to play Russia, holding the championship would plainly become impossible.
Hietanen added that other federations are still weighing the boycott question within their own boards.
The Finnish city-level reaction has already surfaced: Aftonbladet also reports that a Finnish city has withdrawn from hosting the World Junior Championship if Russia takes part.
Sweden holding its comment
Sweden has not yet moved. Sportbladet, Aftonbladet's sports section, contacted Anders Larsson, chair of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, who is taking part in IIHF board meetings this week. He said he wanted to wait for comment until that work has progressed further.
The sequence matters because Finland and Sweden had been aligned. Finland's reversal leaves the Swedish federation as the most prominent Nordic body still formally opposed to a boycott while declining to rule one out — a position that has already attracted criticism at home.
The dispute behind the decision
At the centre of the matter is the CAS ruling that restored Russia and Belarus to international ice hockey's top level. Finland and Sweden had both objected to that decision without endorsing a boycott, arguing that staying away was not the answer. Aftonbladet's reporting indicates that stance proved difficult to sustain once critics at home pressed the point.
Finland's new position reframes the question from whether the readmission was correct to whether the tournament can proceed without the countries that refuse to take the ice against Russia. Hietanen's comment to Yle points to the arithmetic: a boycott only bites if it is broad.
That is why Finland is courting the Nordics and Central Europe's larger hockey nations rather than acting alone. Whether those federations follow is the open question, and their boards are still deliberating, according to Hietanen.
What to watch
Attention now turns to the IIHF board meetings this week and to Sweden's eventual answer, with the men's World Championship in Germany this spring and the World Junior Championship in Canada at the end of December as the events most immediately at stake.
