The Latvia U-20 team has received a new schedule for the World Championship. Instead of Norway, Russia has taken its place

Previously, Latvia was set to compete in Group B alongside the Czech Republic, Canada, Switzerland, and Norway. Now, the Russian team is to take Norway's place. The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association reported that it received the relevant notification from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on Saturday. However, in the schedule published on the IIHF website, Norway still remains among the participants of the top division. The changes are related to a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which in late October ordered the IIHF to immediately reinstate Russian teams in international competitions. This decision applies to the 2027 World Championships for men, women, and U-20 and U-18 teams. Latvia, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and the Czech Republic had previously announced their intention not to play against Russian teams. The Canadian side also reported that it does not plan to issue visas to Russian hockey players for the tournament. The World Junior Championship will take place in Canada from December 26 to January 5. The Latvian team continues its preparation as planned: last weekend, it defeated Poland twice in friendly matches — 2:1 and 4:0. Russian teams were suspended from IIHF tournaments in February 2022 following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Formally, the federation justified the ban with concerns for the safety of the participants in the competitions. The CAS found these arguments insufficiently convincing.