With uncertainties continuing to flood different institutions amid the corona pandemic, the International Ice Hockey Federation cancelled the 2020 World Championship. The decision to cancel came after the federation admitted that Switzerland might not be the hosting country for this year’s championship as initially voted.

The Fate of Championships

A few days before this announcement, the governing body had agreed to cancel this season’s Women’s World Championship as well. The games had been scheduled to take place between 31st of March and 10th of April in Truro and Halifax, Canada.

Before these decisions were made, the IIHF had appeared confident that the situation would not affect the 2020 World Championship season. Men’s games were to take place between 8th and 24th of May in Zurich and Lausanne. Sadly, Rene Fesel finally admitted that the conditions were too harsh and unpredictable for the ice hockey family.

Fesel also noted that the pandemic was a global problem and it will take a lot of government effort to manage it. As of now, sports have to be set aside as all bodies come in solidarity to support the government.

There is no doubt that the decision to cancel the 2020 Ice Hockey championships will have a lot of impact on the federation and its partners. Also, national associations and participating teams that were to arrive to attend the IIHF Annual Congress have been asked to halt until further notice. The congress was to take place between the 21st and 23rd of May in Zurich.

This latest news automatically means the entire World Championship Events’ spring calendar will be affected. There are no possibilities to relocate the events to another country, yet still, it will be difficult to reposition Switzerland as a host.

The federation added that it had implemented risk-management and insurance programs for the 2020 season in line with their insurance guidelines and statutes. These measures include protecting substantial revenues linked to the event.