In fact, the most difficult story with the admission of the Russian national hockey team to international tournaments is not even related to visas and refusal to play, but to sponsors.
There is already a precedent, the World Championship was moved from Belarus to Latvia after protests at the behest of the sponsors, without whom tournaments would not be possible.
If now the big sponsors refuse to give money for tournaments with Russia (and they are already announcing this), then there are two options. Either there will be no tournaments, or they will be without the Russian team.
No Russian company will be able to sponsor due to sanctions. And it's not even about sanctions against specific corporations; You can find those who were not subject to them, but on sanctions against the banking system. Now the only viable option is cash. And you understand that options for money through Dubai are of course interesting, but the sports associations will put a barrier due to suspicions of money laundering. Such payments are suitable only for gray imports, but here the story is very white.
And here's what I think about the CAS decision. I'm not ruling out that everything will go to hell until the situation normalizes. And if they cancel hockey, it will be a very bad sign.
Either way, the sport is now in crisis. And the reason is not the acceptance of the Russian team, it is a natural, legitimate and completely legal process, but its removal in 2022. Some idiots just didn't think three steps ahead. And three steps forward is a forced acceptance of Russia and a situation where it is easier to cancel competitions than to hold them. Then everything will grow like a snowball. There is also Israel, so someone else will appear, etc.
I mean, basically, the Olympic Movement will have to be reassembled, moreover, this is the Olympic Movement. Back to hockey. The World Championship is an important tournament, but it loses to the NHL and even in many ways to the KHL. The problem will be the forced admission of Russia to the Olympics with the anthem and the flag.