China Hockey Team Won’t Be Banned From Olympics


The ice hockey governing body on Tuesday backed out from its plans to block the Chinese men’s team from competing at next year’s Beijing Olympics; It was a quick turnaround, just weeks after the head of the hockey organization voiced concerns that the Chinese team was not good enough to deserve a place. within the field.

The head of the organization, Luc Tardif, announced that China will remain in the Olympic tournament. a statement has been published At the end of the three-day meeting of the International Ice Hockey Federation in Zurich.

“To be clear, the IIHF will not remove the Chinese team from the Olympic Games,” Tardif said. Referring to an earlier vote to field Chinese men, the status of the men’s national team as the host nation entrant in nearly all Olympic ice hockey tournaments was upheld by convention and remained unchanged. host nations.

Still, it was Tardif who suggested it in September. poor quality of chinese team It may cause ice hockey officials to change the roster at the Games. “Watching a team lose 15-0 is not good for anyone, for China or for ice hockey,” Tardif said. told Agence France-Presse. He said hockey urgently needed to consider a “Plan B” for the Olympics.

His comments created a potentially embarrassing situation for hockey, Beijing 2022 organizers, and perhaps most importantly, the Chinese government. Chinese President Xi Jinping sees the Beijing Games as an opportunity for the country to showcase its relative success in taming the coronavirus and demonstrate its emergence as a global power.

Still, this fall, the International Olympic Committee announced that China is at increased risk of humiliation. Agreement with the National Hockey League It’s about releasing players for the Games, ensuring that China’s first-round rivals – the United States, Canada and Germany – feature some of the game’s best talent.

Concerns about China’s performance are linked to a Chinese team competing in Russia’s Continental Hockey League. The Kunlun Red Star team is mostly based in Beijing but during the coronavirus pandemic it moved to a city close to Moscow to play in the eastern division of the league. He currently has the worst record in the league with 24 teams.

Tardif said that even though China said it would stay in the Olympic tournament, it was working with the international federation China Ice Hockey Association to “schedule two games with players eligible to represent the national team in a joint effort to assess the team’s situation”. Preparations for Beijing 2022.”

If the games can be held, Chinese players will compete for the Kunlun Red Star in two KHL matches on November 15 and 17. After these dates, the statement made on Tuesday said, “The IIHF Council will meet again to discuss the next steps. ”



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