CAS judges visited Russia before ruling on hockey return

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that Russia can return to international ice hockey tournaments, but two of the three judges visited Russia before the decision, raising concerns about their impartiality. Italian judge Giulio Palermo, who chaired the panel, spoke at a Moscow arbitration conference weeks before the ruling, while Egyptian judge Ismail Selim attended a similar event in Moscow last May. A Swiss lawyer has reportedly resigned from CAS in protest over Palermo's potential conflict of interest. CAS denies internal turmoil and calls the reports misleading, while Palermo has dismissed the allegations as defamatory and threatened legal action. The court ruled that the IIHF failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify Russia's exclusion.