A meeting of the 2023 Ice Hockey World Cup, in Tampere, Finland, May 25, 2023 PAVEL GOLOVKIN / AP
Will this decision set a precedent? The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on Wednesday January 10 the suspension of Israel’s participation in all its competitions for security reasons. The Israeli team was scheduled to participate in the Division II-A World Cup scheduled for April in Serbia.
“After carefully reviewing the situation, the IIHF Council has decided that, given the concerns raised around the safety of all participants in the Championships, Israel will no longer take part in IIHF competitions at this time.”writes the federation, in a press release published Wednesday.
“In accordance with the IIHF’s obligation to protect all competitors and its obligation to put in place adequate safety and health measures to achieve this, the IIHF Council (…) has decided to suspend the participation of the Israel national team in the IIHF Championships until the safety and well-being of all participants (including Israelis) can be ensured »writes the federation again.
Contacted, the president of the IIHF specifies Monde that the decision of the federation is not “not at all a political decision”any more than she is a “sanction”. “It’s a protective measure, including for Israeli players”, explains Luc Tardif. The Franco-Canadian insists that this suspension is temporary. It will be re-evaluated, “after a risk analysis”, on February 12 during the next IIHF Council during which the situation of Russian and Belarusian athletes will be examined again.
Since the unprecedented attack committed on its territory by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and the start of the conflict between it and the Palestinian Islamist movement in Gaza, Israel has seen several of its teams – national or club – forced to evolve “at home” outside their country. In Euroleague basketball, on January 2, Maccabi Haifa had to host Monaco in Belgrade; in football, in the Europa League, the same club played against Rennes at the end of November, « at home”, in Budapest; and the national team played a Euro 2024 qualifying match against Switzerland on November 15 on the Felcsut field in Hungary.
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