Wayne Gretzky backs PM Mark Carney's call to bar Russia from world juniors
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky has publicly supported Prime Minister Mark Carney's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the upcoming world junior hockey championship in Canada. The move is a response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, overriding a recent Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling.
Why it matters
This highlights the intersection of international sports governance, geopolitical sanctions, and the influence of cultural icons on public policy.
TORONTO — Wayne Gretzky played a big part in one of his country's crowning moments on the international sporting stage. The Great One fed fellow superstar Mario Lemieux for the decisive goal that secured the 1987 Canada Cup final against the Soviet Union in the waning stages of the Cold War. Almost 40 years later, he's on board with a political move that has big ramifications on and off the ice. Gretzky said Friday he backs Prime Minister Mark Carney's decision to bar Russia from the upcoming world junior hockey championship in Alberta because of Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and a war that is approaching its fifth year. "Nobody likes war, right?" said the NHL's all-time points leader, whose Eastern European heritage includes roots in present-day Ukraine, Belarus and Poland. "We definitely don't want to see this. We hope it ends. We wish it didn't start.
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