Hobart 2 July 2026 – A cloud hangs over the visa status of at least 20 foreign ice hockey players potentially illegally in Australia playing in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL).
Complicating matters is the positive drug-test result of another overseas player associated with the Ice Hockey Classic series opening in Tasmania tonight (2 July), a private sports event staged by Canadian promoter Kerry Goulet who also coaches the Melbourne Ice. The player’s inclusion in one of the teams, in direct contravention of a World Anti-Doping Agency-supported ban, has raised further concerns for Ice Hockey Australia (IHA).
The 2026 series – the 11th – will also include games in Melbourne and Canberra in the six-match promotion. It is an unsanctioned series of matches pitting “Team Canada” vs “Team USA” (though neither are the national teams of either nation).
Immigration (Home Affairs) compliance investigators were recently tipped off with evidence that the Canadian, American, Swiss, Russian, Hungarian and Japanese ice hockey players, competing in either the AIHL and/or the Ice Hockey Classic, are currently contracted to play in breach of their strict visitor visa conditions (Subclass 651 or 601 for tourism, and business conference attendance only).
Though it is the custom of Home Affairs not to comment on ongoing immigration investigations and/or operational or compliance matters, a response is pending to questions put to the department earlier today.
One athlete, a Japanese goaltender with the Melbourne Ice – Tatsunoshim Ishida – tried to enter Melbourne earlier this year on a visitor visa and was turned back by authorities at the border. He subsequently returned to Melbourne on a student visa (Subclass 500) which now enables him to participate in ice hockey and “work” 24 hours each week while his classes are in session.
Sportsmen who sign contracts to play in the AIHL and the Ice Hockey Classic can apply, and be granted a Temporary Activity visa (Subclass 408 – sporting activities stream) which enables elite athletes to play, coach, or participate in high-level training for Australian sporting organizations for up to two years. However electronic travel authorities (ETA) issued for visitors (i.e., tourists) expressly prohibit work or compensation (money, flights, gifts in kind etc). Signing a contract to play for a team in the AIHL is not considered “volunteering”, another permitted activity for visitors.
AIHL chairman Dan Hogan said today he needed more information about the potential visitor visa breaches before commenting.
“The AIHL is unable to comment at this time,” Hogan said. “If you wish to provide further details of the allegations against the AIHL, its teams or players, I will convene a meeting of the Directors to discuss a response.”
Immigration authorities view these sorts of breaches seriously, and the industrial scale on which ice hockey teams and organisers have thumbed their collective noses at the Migration Act has serious ramifications for the AIHL, promotional events, the teams and the sport itself.
“We expect all teams in the AIHL, and the league itself, to adhere to all laws and legislation regarding the correct visas for playing and/or coaching ice hockey in Australia,” IHA president Tim Kitching said today.
David Booth, a former NHL pro with Florida, Vancouver, Toronto and Detroit over an 11-year career of more than 500 games, returned to play in the Ice Hockey Classic, and with the AIHL Melbourne Ice, arriving recently in Australia on a Subclass 408 visa. He was able to secure the backing of the AIHL – a prerequisite for this visa as authorities demand a letter of support from the peak sporting body as well as team sponsorship.
The compliance investigators are now sifting through the information provided to them which includes player names, nationality, dates of birth and teams with which the athletes are contracted. A compliance operation to identify these players and establish their right to remain in Australia, during the Ice Hockey Classic and/or during the remainder of the AIHL season is possible. If detained, players found to be unlawfully in Australia could be kept in immigration detention until a flight was arranged to their home country, or under certain circumstances, authorities would agree to a monitored departure to provide sufficient time for personal, financial and employment arrangements to be wound up.
One former AIHL team executive says the visitor visa rort was one that has been utilised by teams for “many years” and described it as the “cheat’s way” to get a “quick, cheap and simple visa (electronic travel authority)” to enter Australia. The online visa costs as little as $20, as opposed to hundreds, even thousands of dollars, for sporting or student visas.
It should be noted no import players registered with the AIHL teams Perth Thunder, Adelaide Adrenaline, Sydney Bears or Brisbane Lightning appeared on the list of overseas athletes on visitor visas provided to Immigration/Home Affairs.
To further complicate the visa scandal is the positive drug test returned by one Ice Hockey Classic player, Austin Albrecht, a 30-year-old American winger who was one of two players whose samples were sent for testing after Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) drug testers attended two AIHL practises in Melbourne in late 2024. Albrecht was then with the Melbourne Ice and his sample tested positive for the presence of banned stimulants.
SIA said in a statement:
“Mr Albrecht returned an Adverse Analytical Finding from an In-Competition doping control test on 24 August 2024. Mr Albrecht’s sample was analysed at the Anti-Doping Laboratory LSI Medience Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, and the presence of Amfetamine (a metabolite of Lisdexamfetamine), was detected. Lisdexamfetamine is listed under Class S6.A (Non-Specified Stimulants) of the World Anti-Doping Code – International Standard – Prohibited List 2024. Lisdexamfetamine is classed as a Non-Specified Substance and prohibited in competition only.”
Ice Hockey Australia sanctioned and banned Albrecht in March 2026 from playing in Australia.
According to SIA: “Mr Albrecht is ineligible to participate in any sports that have adopted a World Anti-Doping Code compliant anti-doping policy until 11:59pm 9 June 2027. He is also not permitted to compete in a non-signatory professional league, or event organised by a non-signatory International or National level event organisation.”
While SIA acknowledged Albrecht’s use of the stimulants was “not committed intentionally”, it has warned all athletes that stimulant medications are prohibited In-Competition and require a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) when and if athletes are prescribed specific medication for their condition(s).
High-energy sports such as ice hockey are well known by drug testing authorities worldwide for players’ use of stimulant medications, usually to boost concentration and focus. But without a prescription and formal medical authorisation, their presence in an SIA drug-test sample contravenes anti-doping rules. Stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin are banned in competitive sports and are on the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list.
The second player has not yet been named by SIA. It is known the Canadian import last played in the AIHL in 2025. His drug test showed the presence of banned substances, but SIA has not resolved an outcome to the player’s or their satisfaction. It is possible an appeal to test the second sample is being considered, or that SIA will conclude the matter as it did with Albrecht and sanction him – which then includes SIA naming and posting online details of his name, the drug test results and the consequences.
Austin Albrecht left Australia shortly after the positive result to his August 2024 drug test to continue playing in the USA, while the second player chose not to play in the AIHL in 2026.
“We’re not happy with the fact Albrecht is playing in this private ice hockey event, but we have no power over it as it’s unsanctioned; IHA did not sanction it,” IHA’s Tim Kitching said.
Finally, the Ice Hockey Classic boasts its mission is to raise awareness and funds for the Canadian registered charities STOPCONCUSSIONS Foundation and Shoot for a Cure. Goulet claims to have partnered with Australian NGOs in past promotions, advertising some of the proceeds would go towards education and research. But no annual reports or financial statements lodged by either foundation are listed on their websites, in the Ontario Business Registry, let alone with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission. Stop Concussions Foundation is not even registered in Australia. Shoot for a Cure’s website has been down for an extended period.
While specific questions first put to Kerry Goulet in 2025 about his foundations’ financial status remain unanswered, he responded today with a brief statement:
“The Ice Hockey Classic is a long-established event dedicated to promoting the sport of ice hockey in Australia while supporting charitable causes through the event. In relation to the (other) matters raised … we have no further comment.”
Here is a list of the players named in the list provided to Immigration compliance investigators.
ICE HOCKEY PLAYERS ON VISITOR VISAS WHILE CONTRACTED TO AIHL TEAMS 2026
John Aonso Subclass 601 Ice Hockey Classic/MEL Ice CDN
Brandon Lucchesi Subclass 601 MEL Ice, CDN
Peter Bates Subclass 651 CBR Brave USA
Spencer Cox Subclass 601 CBR Brave, USA
Justin Maylan Subclass 601 CBR Brave CDN
Carson Miller Subclass 651 CBR Brave CDN
Philippe Caron Subclass 601 MEL Mustangs CDN
Brody Crane Subclass 601 MEL Mustangs CDN/USA
Matthew Dorsey Subclass 601 MEL Mustangs, USA
Davide Gaeta Subclass 651 MEL Mustangs SUI
Noah Giesbrecht Subclass 601 MEL Mustangs CDN
Yuki Sasaki Subclass 601 MEL Mustangs JPN
Evgeni Skachkov Subclass 651 NEW Northstars Russia/Romania
Kabore Dunn Subclass 601 SYD Ice Dogs, CDN
Shane Hanna Subclass 601 SYD Ice Dogs, CDN
Robert Lachowicz Subclass 651 SYD Ice Dogs GBR
Natan Vertes Subclass 651 SYD Ice Dogs Hungarian
Danick Bouchard Subclass 601 CCT Rhinos CDN
Alexandre Bovin Subclass 601 CCT Rhinos CDN
Sandi Logan 