The CAS ruling that opened the way for Russia’s return to ice hockey world championships now has a separate procedural question attached to it. One of the three arbitrators had led an institution that said it wanted to deepen cooperation with Russian institutions. That does not establish bias, but it does justify a clear account from CAS of how potential conflicts were assessed.
DN reports that CAS upheld the Russian Ice Hockey Federation’s appeal on 30 October. Russia had been excluded from international ice hockey since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The panel comprised chair Giulio Palermo, Ismail Selim and Mark Hovell.
Selim directed the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, CRCICA, from 2017 until the end of 2025. DN reports that an invitation to a Moscow seminar in 2025 said CRCICA was committed to deepening cooperation with Russian institutions, arbitrators and business stakeholders. During Selim’s leadership, CRCICA also obtained permanent arbitral institution status in Russia, DN reports.
Those facts are not proof that Selim was biased in the hockey case. Former CAS arbitrator Conny Jörneklint told DN that speaking at a conference would not normally make an arbitrator conflicted. CAS also says Palermo received the case only after he travelled to a Moscow conference. But DN reports that CAS did not give a substantive answer about Selim’s earlier CRCICA work. That is why the issue calls for disclosure and explanation, not a premature verdict.
According to DN, the merits of a CAS award cannot be appealed, but alleged procedural errors, including unequal treatment, can be brought before Switzerland’s highest court. There is no public indication that IIHF has filed such an appeal, and no court has found that any member of the panel had a conflict of interest.
The immediate question is therefore not whether Russia’s return has already been overturned. It is whether CAS has given an adequate public account of conflict checks in a ruling with major sporting and political consequences. On the evidence reported so far, it should do so.
Sources
- Dagens Nyheter · Source date: 2026-11-11
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-11
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