Paris (AFP)
The Ice Hockey World Championship, scheduled for May 8-24 in Switzerland, has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Federation (IIHF) announced on Saturday.
"Given the current circumstances and after discussions with several stakeholders, the IIHF board has decided that the Ice Hockey World Championships in Zurich and Lausanne cannot be held," the federation said in a statement.
"It is obviously impossible to move (the World Cup) to another country," writes the IIHF. A possible postponement of the competition, which takes place every year, should be decided at a congress, specifies the federation.
The IIHF annual congress, which was to take place from May 21 to 23 in Zurich, in the last days of the competition, is postponed indefinitely.
The lower division tournaments, which allow the best teams to be promoted and thus compete in the World Cup the following year, were already canceled on Tuesday.
The pandemic has also already suspended the regular season of NHL, the prestigious North American hockey league.
© 2020 AFP