Tobias Karlsson, Executive Director of the Ice Hockey Federation, hopes that the International Ice Hockey Federation will react quickly to the situation in Ukraine. He does not consider it realistic to move the Games from Russia on the current schedule.
The World Ice Hockey Championships are scheduled to take place in the spring in Syktyvkar, Russia, from March 27 to April 3. Executive Director of the Finnish Hockey Association Tobias Karlsson says the decision to participate in or withdraw from the Games has not yet been made.
– We are constantly monitoring the development of the situation in Ukraine and we also rely on the communications and recommendations of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Karlsson told Urheilu.
According to Karlsson, the Ice Hockey Association has followed the situation in Ukraine with shock and uncertainty. The hockey boss hopes the International Ice Hockey Federation will react quickly.
Karlsson considers it very unlikely that the World Cup will have time to find a new host country with one month’s notice.
Canceling the race would be a huge athletic defeat
The World Ice Hockey Championships have been held every year since 2003. Due to the corona pandemic, the World Cup has had to be postponed several times, and the last time hockey was played at the World Cup level was in 2019, when Russia won Sweden in the final. Finland took bronze in the tournament.
According to Karlsson, it would be a huge sporting disappointment if the race were not played again.
– After all, the sport loses, and in this case, hockey. The Finnish Hockey Association or the international hockey family can do nothing for world politics.
According to Karlsson, the Ice Hockey Association is still preparing to travel so that it will be ready to travel to the Games if necessary.