Kalniņš, who appeared for Latvia at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, played for Sweden's Växjö Lakers last season, before signing a contract with Amur.

The LHF will not select players playing for Russian teams because of the war in Ukraine and rejected a request to approve Kalniņš' transfer in July.

Amur appealed to the IIHF and Kalniņš received permission to join the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) club.

The LHF is now challenging that decision with the IIHF Disciplinary Board.

Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic are other countries to have like Latvia vowed to stop picking Russian-based players for their national teams.

Some players signed to Russia clubs have complained they are not in a financial position to break the contracts, while there have also been calls for the IIHF to mirror FIFA's policy of allowing players in Russia and Ukraine to suspend their contacts and sign for teams in another country.

Latvia shares a land border with Russia, as well as its military ally Belarus.

Latvian sports authorities have by and large taken a hardline stance on Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

This includes legislation being enacted to prevent the Latvian Olympic Unit, the body which oversees funding for athletes from the state budget, providing funds to athletes who hold dual Russian citizenship.

The KHL largely features Russian teams, although there are clubs based in Belarus, Kazakhstan and China.

Latvia's Dinamo Riga and Finnish outfit Jokerit both quit the league because of the war in Ukraine.

The IIHF has banned Russian and Belarusian teams from its events because of the conflict and stripped Russia of the right to stage the Men's World Championship next year.