Mike Murphy

🇳🇴 РОССИЮ ВОЗВРАЩАЮТ НА ЧЕМПИОНАТ МИРА ПО ХОККЕЮ, ВЫКИНУВ ОТТУДА НОРВЕГИЮ Кризис в мировом хоккее, вызванный решением Спортивного арбитражного суда (CAS) о возвращении России на международные соревнования, продолжается. И с каждым днем происходящее становится всё абсурднее. Норвежская федерация хоккея сегодня сообщила, что IIHF, исполняя решение CAS, включила сборную РФ в состав участников молодежного чемпионата мира, который начнется 26 декабря в Канаде. Поскольку мест на чемпионате всего десять, кого-то пришлось убрать. И убрали Норвегию — как команду с самым низким рейтингом среди участников. Норвежцев отправили в низший дивизион, а на их место поставили россиян. На фотографии — молодежная сборная Норвегии, которая в декабре 2025 года выиграла все пять матчей турнира первого дивизиона и честно завоевала право выступить на чемпионате мира 2027 года. Теперь ее место отдают России. То есть страна, которая уже почти пять лет ведет захватническую войну против соседнего государства, получает место на чемпионате мира за счет страны, которая никаких правил не нарушала и честно завоевала право там играть. Канада уже заявила, что не выдаст российским хоккеистам визы. Несколько стран предупредили, что откажутся играть против России или вообще участвовать в турнире. Норвежская федерация пока надеется, что решение IIFH пересмотрят.

I want to share a brief update. My presidential memoir, PROMISE ME, AMERICA, is coming out on November 17th. I hope you'll read it. It covers my years as President. The challenges we faced, the decisions I made, and why I made them. It's about who we are as a nation. What we stand for. And America's role in the world. More than anything, it's about my faith in the American people and the great American experiment in self-governance and democracy. While writing the book, I was diagnosed with cancer, a disease known all too well to millions of Americans and their families. My doctors continue to be encouraged by how I've responded to treatment. And the prayers and kind words and well wishes from so many of you have meant more to me and Jill and our family than you can ever know. Some days are better than others. It hasn't stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down. What that means is, unfortunately, I won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped. However, I’m hopeful the words on the page speak for themselves. Looking forward, I'm going to keep following what my father told me a long time ago: "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up." It's a good lesson for me. And for America. We are blessed. America is the most unique nation on earth. Unlike other countries, we're built on an idea. An idea bigger than any ocean. More powerful than any army. Stronger than any tyrant or dictator. That idea? All of us are created equal. Promise Me, America, we'll never forget it.

The IIHF has issued an update on Russian and Belarusian participation in IIHF Championships, outlining recent decisions and ongoing work within the applicable framework to safeguard international ice hockey. Read the full statement: iihf.com/en/news/76810/iihf_… #IIHF

He has that Obama elocution.

The IIHF has issued a statement following its recent Council meeting, addressing the CAS ruling on Russian teams and its potential impact on upcoming World Championships.

BREAKING: In a powerful moment, the first Black Speaker of the House of Representatives just delivered the speech of his lifetime. This is amazing.

Ice hockey federations of five European countries - Denmark, Latvia, Norway, Finland, and Sweden - have refused to play against the Russian national team at the 2027 World Championship in Germany in May. Thank you for standing with Ukraine! The Russian team was admitted to the tournament in late October following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association stated that "Russia must be excluded from all international championships as long as the war in Ukraine continues." Latvia reported that their national teams will not play against Russia or Belarus as long as Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continues. They also recalled that in February 2024, the Latvian Parliament passed a law prohibiting national sports teams from participating in matches against teams from Russia and Belarus, even if they compete under a neutral flag.

Oleshky: a return of some of the Ukrainians to Ukraine-controlled territory who survived the Russian occupation and the aftermath of Russia blowing up the Kakhovka Dam, a Russian crime that flooded their land and homes. Russia has starved them, took away their food, provided no medicine, and did not allow them to leave. Many people died - were killed - during the Russian occupation and in the aftermath of the flooding. We cannot know the exact figures, as this territory remains under Russian control. Now Russians are trying to portray this as an act of humanism on their part. But in reality, they were pressured into letting these people go - people whose land and homes they had seized, whom they had tormented and condemned to death by starvation. People left behind their seized and destroyed homes and fled to avoid starving to death. Almost all chose to go to Ukraine. And I thank everyone who took part in this extremely difficult humanitarian mission, everyone who contributed and helped save Ukrainian lives.

🏒 The decision by the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) to allow Russia back to international hockey is an own goal by the International Ice Hockey Federation, IIHF. Instead of, from the very outset, clearly declaring the prime reason to ban Russia from IIHF events, the world governing body gave lame and shallow reasons like “safety and well-being of players, officials, fans, volunteers and all participants.” For reasons that are difficult to understand, the IIHF were hesitant to give the real motives to keep Russia out; the unprovoked aggression of a sovereign nation, daily murder of innocent civilians and the most horrific war crimes on European soil since WWII. And the IIHF could see it coming. In June this year, the IIHF’s own (!) disciplinary board informed the IIHF Council (Board) that the council’s reasons to ban Russia could not be maintained in its current form. To put it simply, safety and well-being of participants is not a good enough reason to ban a nation. It can be reason #5 but not the main reason. It is important to understand how CAS works. The court’s job is to determine whether a federation’s own regulations are reasonable and if the federation follows its own rules. The IIHF has had five years following the Russian aggression to adjust their statutes to reflect the current situation in Ukraine, to be something like this: “The IIHF prohibits participation of nations that indulge in unprovoked wars of aggression, where innocent civilians and sports facilities are targeted and where civilians are murdered indiscriminately. A ban from participating is relevant particularly to nations where the political power and the country’s ice hockey authorities are intertwined and where the war enjoys full support from such authorities.” When reading CAS’ ruling from today, it is obvious that it is the IIHF that bears the responsibility. CAS states clearly that the reasons (safety, etc) as presented by the IIHF were not enough. What is even more embarrassing for the IIHF is that CAS, in the same press release, writes that it had dismissed similar Russian appeals - from the Russian Curling Federation - because of the World Curling Federation citing in their case that “the reintroduction of Russian athletes would present significant challenges to the integrity of the competitions.” So, in hockey, the Russian appeal was upheld. In curling it was dismissed. Difference? How you present your case. There is no question that it is the IIHF Council, with the former president Luc Tardif, that bears responsibility for the IIHF’s inability to properly present its case. And I personally pointed that out to Tardif some three years ago when we spoke at length about the Russian issue at the Champions Hockey League final in Luleå, Sweden. 🥅 The CAS decision does not automatically mean that Russia will take part. Countries like Sweden, Finland and Czechia should notify the IIHF that if Russia plays, we are out. The IIHF World Championship can do without Russia, sportively and commercially. But without the money from Swedish, Finnish and Czech television, there is no event.

Ishockey-VM i Tyskland 2027 hade kunnat bli en fantastisk fest. Ukraina kvalificerade sig i våras och skulle för första gången på 20 år få spela A-VM. Detta dessutom i Tyskland, landet som tagit emot flest ukrainska flyktingar. Ukrainsk hockey har precis som hela landet lidit enormt pga rysslands invasionskrig. Minst 13 ukrainska hockeyspelare har dödats. Arenor har förstörts, landets bästa ungdomsverksamhet slogs helt sönder och hela klubblag har tvingats flytta eller helt lägga ner verksamheten. Så sent som den 19 oktober angrep ryssland Kyjivs modernaste hockeyarena Schalett med en ballistisk robot. ⬇️Återuppbyggnadsarbetet satte igång nästan direkt. Ukrainsk ishockey hade det inte så lätt före 2022 heller. Det har aldrig funnits stora pengar i sporten här, men det finns ett grundmurat intresse i många städer och ett antal eldsjälar och hockeyälskare som håller liv i den ukrainska hockeyligan, sporten och landslagen även nu, i ännu svårare tider. Det var just därför det i våras var en stor och symboliskt viktig seger att trots allt så lyckades landslaget att ta sig till A-VM på nytt! Bara för att nu få beskedet att de kommer förlora den platsen till – just det, ryssland av alla länder! Det är närmast en sadistisk ironi att landet som skapat och fortsätter skapa så mycket lidande nu även ska ta ifrån oss även det här glädjeämnet. Visst hade Ukraina fått det svårt att hävda sig bland giganterna i A-VM. Men i det här fallet hade deltagande handlat så mycket mer än om resultat. Att få vara med i hockeyns finrum, visa att man finns, lever och kämpar hade varit värt mycket bara det. Att få ställas mot stjärnorna från Kanada, Sverige, Finland, USA m.fl. hade varit värt mycket bara det när man kommer från en tillvaro där man får vara glad om alla i familjen överlever vintern och det finns någonstans att genomföra vettig träning på is. Samtidigt har hockeylandslagen kommit närmre varandra och kanske hade Ukraina ändå kunnat ta någon poäng av Tjeckien, Schweiz, Finland, Tre kronor, USA eller Kanada och levt på den bedriften i flera år. Nu kommer vi berövas allt detta av CAS beslut att det blodbesudlade ryssland nu med omedelbar verkan istället ska beredas plats i hockey-VM. Just på bekostnad av Ukraina, som var det landslag som kvalificerade sig sist. Ibland är det svårt att finna ord för hur fel världen fungerar i vissa fall…… teapaw.org/FriaUkraina/status/205…

Finland, Germany, Czechia and Austria’s governing hockey entities have each released statements following the CAS ruling on Russia’s eligibility for IIHF championships in 2027. (H/T @leijonat, @deb_teams, @czehockey, eishockey.at)

⚡️ Russia's national ice hockey teams have been cleared to return to international competitions for the first time since the start of the war The Russian national team will be able to compete at the 2027 World Championship in Germany, while the junior team will compete in Canada. Russia's Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev announced the country's return to international ice hockey.