The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that Russia can participate in tournaments run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), returning the country to international hockey competitions for the first time since 2022. Russia has spent the past four years suspended from competition by multiple international organizations, including the IIHF, in the wake of the the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The ruling came after the IIHF barred Russian teams from participating in 2027 tournaments, citing concerns about safety and security. In a statement released Friday, CAS said that it had received three appeals from the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF), and has now upheld one of those appeals.

As a result of the appeal, IIHF is “ordered” to allow Russian teams to play in five tournaments: World Junior Championship, U18 Women’s World Championship, U18 Men’s World Championship, Men’s World Championship and Women’s World Championship.

In the statement, CAS said that IIHF’s safety concerns were “not supported by sufficient evidence,” and that “only substantiated security concerns could outweigh athletes of a particular nationality to participate in competition.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) released a statement on Friday expressing its “disappointment” in the ruling.

“The IIHF disagrees with this aspect of the ruling and maintains that its decisions were necessary to protect the safety and security of all participants and safeguard the integrity of its competitions,” the federation wrote. “While the IIHF respects the authority of CAS and will act in accordance with its ruling, the outcome does not remove the concerns that informed its assessments.”

The IIHF also pointed out that the change will be difficult to implement for competitions that are already in “an advanced stage of preparation.” Two of the competitions that CAS is allowing Russia to participate in, World Juniors and the U18 Women’s World Championship, begin in December and January, respectively.

“These decisions made by CAS do not consider the practical elements which cannot be implemented immediately,” the IIHF wrote.

Hockey Canada also released a statement echoing the IIHF’s disappointment.

“While the implications of the ruling are not immediately clear, our organization is in contact with the IIHF to learn more and we await further understanding of the potential impact the decision will have on the IIHF’s Member National Associations and future competitions,” the organization wrote.

Canada will host two of the five tournament that Russia is now cleared to play in: World Juniors, which starts Dec. 26, and the Women’s World Championship in Nov. 2027.

Czechia’s hockey federation, which will host the U18 women’s championship in mid-January, also released a statement saying that it was “very unpleasantly surprised” by the CAS ruling.

Germany’s federation Deutscher Eishockey Bund (DEB), which will host the men’s championship in May, also expressed their opposition to the ruling: In a statement, DEB chairmand Frank H. Lutz said that they “reject the return of Russian national teams” and said that the change will have “significant security, political, and economic consequences for us as hosts.”

USA Hockey has not yet responded to the CAS ruling. The United States will host the U18 men’s championship next spring.

It is unclear whether the ruling will affect future competitions as well, given that Russia is not currently incorporated into the current tournament fields. Ukraine is also among the teams that have qualified for the men’s championship, creating an added wrinkle.

The Russian national hockey team has not competed at the Olympics under the Russian flag since 2014, initially due to a ban for the country’s widespread doping. The war in Ukraine led Russian athletes to be barred from the 2026 games last February.