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The German national ice hockey team for women around captain Julia Zorn (left) only found out about the cancellation of the World Cup one day before the scheduled departure
Photo: nordphoto GmbH / Hafner / imago images / Nordphoto
Last week, the women's ice hockey world championship in Canada was canceled a second time due to the corona pandemic.
The selection of the German Ice Hockey Association was surprised on April 21 at the training camp in Füssen while preparing for the flight to the World Cup venue Truro.
The short-term nature of the cancellation has caused resentment, incomprehension and anger among many players.
Canada's Prime Minister Iain Rankin had withdrawn the tournament's approval: "I deeply regret the short-term nature of this decision, but the rapid deterioration of the situation is forcing us to make this decision in the interests of the people of Nova Scotia and the participants."
The close-knit test and quarantine strategy, under which the U20 World Cup for men was held in Edmonton in December, was no longer sufficient for the authorities in view of the tightened corona measures in the province of Novia Scotia.
So while the title fights for the U18 juniors begin in the USA and the men are playing their World Cup in Latvia at the end of May, the women's tournament, which was supposed to be held in Canada on May 6, does not take place.
Many players are stunned and speak of unequal treatment.
DEB captain Julia Zorn vented her anger on Twitter: “It's just unfair.
We are still sad, disappointed and frustrated.
Our season is over in the blink of an eye in the most shocking and unexpected way. «The DEB team had only been informed of the cancellation one day before the scheduled departure.
There was also sharp criticism from Switzerland. “This cancellation is totally unacceptable and devastating,” wrote world-class striker Alina Müller on Instagram: “It would be a shame to do this to the best players in men's hockey who earn a lot of money and are not dependent on other jobs. But it is absolutely scandalous to do this to the best players and take away the best platform for them to develop women's hockey. "US star Hilary Knight spoke on Twitter of a" further reminder that women's ice hockey is still like a secondary thought is treated «.
The world association IIHF was powerless in a first reaction. President Rene Fasel wrote in an open letter to the “women's ice hockey family”: “Since both the IIHF and the Canadian Association had received assurance a few days before the cancellation that the event would take place, this news was completely unexpected. “Providing a replacement location for a tournament with ten nations was not possible in view of the costs and logistics.
The IIHF “does not agree with the short-term cancellation because we have done everything necessary to install the COVID-19 security measures,” wrote Fasel.
He admitted that he had only briefed some teams on short notice, but also saw something positive in this: He was happy that he had avoided unsuccessful flights.
He assured that the tournament, which was postponed for the first time in April 2020, should be rescheduled "as early as possible in summer".
On Tuesday, the world association IIHF and the participating nations will be advised on how to proceed.
svs / sid / dpa