The Russian Foreign Ministry called Canada's decision to deny visas to hockey players politicization.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called Canadian Prime Minister Mike Carney's decision to deny visas to Russian hockey players political. "With its political decision, the Canadian government is causing direct damage not only to the world championship being held in its country, but also to the whole world of hockey," Zakharova said in her response to a media question published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.