The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on Friday that Russian teams can compete in next year's men's and women's world championships, overturning the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)'s decisions to exclude them from its competitions.

The IIHF has excluded Russia, which has won ​five IIHF world titles as an independent nation, from most international ice hockey competitions since 2022 following the country's invasion of Ukraine .

Russia did not compete in Olympic hockey earlier this year, the first since 2014 which had NHL players, nor was it included in the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, four days after Olympic competition ended that year.

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Russia players celebrate during the Ice Hockey World Championship Group A match against Sweden in Riga, Latvia, on May 31, 2021.…