The world ice hockey association IIHF has excluded Israel from its World Cup tournaments for security reasons. The IIHF justified the decision with its duty of care to “protect all participants in IIHF competitions.” The decision applies until the safety and well-being of all participants, including Israeli participants, can be guaranteed.
The IIHF Council made the decision after “careful consideration and based on a risk assessment, discussions with the participating countries and discussions with the hosts,” the world association announced. However, the statement did not mention whether any other country had objections to playing against Israel. The Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas was also not mentioned.
The world body used similar language on security last year to justify its decision to exclude Russia and Belarus from competition following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bernd Schwickerath Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 11 Bernd Schwickerath Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1
Israel’s men’s team was scheduled to play against, among others, the United Arab Emirates in Group A of the lower division II in Serbia in April. The Israeli women’s national team would have played games against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Indonesia in March in Estonia at the Division III World Cup in Group B, among others.
