Russian players on two NHL teams opening the season in the Czech Republic will be allowed to participate in the two Global Series games in Prague after all.

The Czech government has dropped its attempted ban of Russian players on the rosters for San Jose and Nashville, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday. The move paves the way for the Sharks and Predators to travel to Europe this weekend for practices and exhibition games in Germany and Switzerland, respectively, before facing off at Prague's O2 Arena Oct. 7 and 8.

The Czech Foreign Ministry last week said Russian players would not be granted entry into the country because of their nation's invasion of Ukraine. Czech officials could not be reached late Thursday. The Czech Republic was one of the first EU countries to stop issuing visas to Russian nationals following the February invasion, with some exceptions.