ALBERTA -- The International Ice Hockey Federation announced Wednesday that they would be cancelling the remainder of the 2022 World Juniors Championship because of the rising COVID-19 case counts.
COVID-19 had already resulted in three games being forfeited, after teams from the U.S., Russia, and Czechia, had to forfeit games over the past two days of the tournament as positive tests were reported among their teams.
“The IIHF Council has decided that, due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship will be cancelled to ensure the health and safety of all participants,” reads an IIHF statement.
Forfeiting games, according to the IIHF, meant that the “sportive integrity of the event has been compromised.’
“We owed it to the participating teams to do our best to create the conditions necessary for this event to work,” said Luc Tardif, IIHF president. “Unfortunately, this was not enough. We now have to take some time and focus on getting all players and team staff back home safely.”
Hockey Canada also reacted by stating that it had “worked tirelessly” to make sure the event would go on. “Despite our best effort, and continually adapting and strengthening protocols, we have fallen short or our goal.”
“We sympathize with all participants who have earned the opportunity to represent their countries on the world stage and will not be able to realize that dream in its entirety.” Added Hocky Canada.
It was reported that while the tournament was scheduled to have at least 30 games spread across Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, only nine of those games were completed.
Tom Renney with Hockey Canada said, “I cannot imagine how disappointed the players are. We came up against an opponent that was not on the ice, but that was bigger than all of us.”
The IIHF announced 5 positive tests in the days before the tournament, including Swiss captain Simon Knak, Austrian Senna Peeters and an unknown Finnish player. Two game officials also tested positive just before the opening game.
It was also reported that the IIHF did not close the door on the event perhaps being completed in the summer, but that a decision would not be made for weeks, according to president Luc Tardif. “I think the organization committee don’t want to give up,” he said. “We deserve that to the young players.”
