Beijing 2022: fresh doubts over China’s ice hockey team for Winter Games as world body reviews players’ Olympic eligibility
- The IIHF will study information provided by Chinese ice hockey officials on whether their imported players are eligible to represent the country
- Many of the players are North Americans who play for the Kunlun Red Star club in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) council held a call on Friday to review the Olympic eligibility of China’s men’s national team players, though no decisions were made about the host country’s status for the upcoming tournament in Beijing.
Officials are set to review information from the Chinese Ice Hockey Association about players on the host country’s potential roster. Another meeting is scheduled for December 6.
Several players on China’s national team are North Americans who moved to play for a Chinese-owned club in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in an attempt to naturalise and gain Olympic eligibility. But the pandemic-forced move of KHL club Kunlun Red Star out of China and to Moscow adds a layer of uncertainty about whether players meet the eligibility standard.
Doubts had previously been raised on whether the Chinese team were even good enough to play against top NHL stars in Beijing. China have been grouped with the powerful Canadians and Americans in their Winter Games pool, which also features Germany. Observers fear the Chinese team will suffer embarrassing losses against their opponents and smear the sport’s reputation.
Kunlun played two so-called test games against KHL opponents in mid-November with IIHF officials watching closely to determine the level of competitiveness. Players’ performances in a 5-4 overtime loss and a 4-1 defeat were apparently enough to satisfy concerns about how they will handle NHL competition in Beijing, making eligibility the only hurdle to China remaining in the Olympics.