Moment of Truth: Decision on NHL Players' Participation in the 2022 Olympics Will Be Made by the End of August

One of the main issues in the world of hockey remains the participation of players of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the Winter Olympics in 2022.

Less than half a year is left before the start of the competition in Beijing - the first match of the men's tournament will take place on February 9, 2022, and the final will be held on the 20th.

But fans still do not know if the teams will be able to form the best players at the moment.

Negotiations between the league, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on the participation of NHL players have become a kind of tradition before each Olympic Games.

Usually their results became known much earlier than now.

The fact that the NHL would not let the players go to Pyeongchang in 2018 was announced ten months before the start of the tournament, and that they would be able to play in Sochi in 2014 - seven months.

Under a new collective agreement between the NHL and the players, the latter still get the opportunity to compete at the Olympics in 2022 and 2026, but depending on how negotiations with their organizers develop. In accordance with this clause of the agreement, when planning a new season, the league left a groundwork in the regular season calendar for the duration of the Games. The last four matches will be played on February 2, after which a pause will begin until the 23rd. The NHL is going to set aside exactly two weeks for the hockey players to gather in national teams, play in Beijing and return back to North America to further determine the participants in the playoffs.

However, this is not yet a reason for the fans to breathe out calmly.

In its news, the NHL emphasizes that the final decision has not been made anyway and negotiations are continuing.

The League reserves the right to refuse to travel to Beijing if players are in danger due to coronavirus or other reasons.

If in the end it is decided that the Olympics will be held without NHL players, the calendar will be turned upside down.

Nevertheless, some certainty in this matter still exists.

IIHF President Rene Fasel said the negotiations would end by early September when training camps will open in the NHL.

“Nothing has been decided at the moment.

Nothing will be clear by the end of the month.

We are discussing, negotiations are underway, there are difficult moments.

Including the situation with COVID-19.

But the decision will be made only at the end of August, "TASS quotes Fasel.

Earlier, the vice-president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and the head of the team's headquarters, Roman Rotenberg, said that the key moment in the negotiations remains the coronavirus. The NHL wants to resolve this issue with insurance so as not to incur losses in the event that a player falls ill during the Olympics and cannot play in the regular season after that. But, according to Rotenberg, insurance against coronavirus cannot be obtained, since no company can offer it, and because of this, the parties have not yet been able to reach an agreement.

The recent Summer Olympics in Tokyo was supposed to help more accurately assess the risks that athletes carry. Fasel spoke about this, hoping to draw from these competitions a positive experience for his sport. The results of these Games can be called quite optimistic - since July 1, only 28 athletes out of about 11.5 thousand participants have passed a positive test. Within the Olympic Village, 36 cases of infection have been recorded. At the same time, it was never reported that any of the athletes were seriously injured due to infection.

In addition, the NHL itself is well prepared to confront the coronavirus outside of its territory. According to the latest data, 85% of players have already been vaccinated. The league plans to further increase this share, threatening athletes with salary losses if they refuse vaccinations - if they get coronavirus, they will not receive money for missed games.

According to Match TV, the NHL wants to apply a similar scheme to future participants in the Beijing Olympic Games. The source said that the league still intends to release the players, but will warn them that they will lose some of their salaries if the trip to China ends with a positive test and missed matches. True, it is separately stipulated that many players will only lose their regular salary, which does not include signing bonuses, which make up most of the salary. The publication notes that missing three matches threatens even the best players with a loss of $ 36.6 thousand - for most hockey players this is a rather modest amount, which is less than one percent of total income.

The key factor in the question of NHL participation in the Olympics is that the relevant clause has already been spelled out in the collective agreement.

According to the source, the league will not violate it without extremely compelling reasons so as not to incur reputational losses.

“In principle, the NHL here and now is not profitable to participate in the Olympics, even if it is taking place in such a large market as China.

Maybe in the long term, this promises some kind of profit, but this cannot yet be monetized.

But it’s even more expensive for yourself to violate the collective agreement and not let go of the players, because this could cause a wave of indignation within the league.

If the NHL promised, then it will keep its word.

The league's negotiations with the IOC and IIHF have been delayed because the NHL wants to get the most out of the Olympics.

And he is doing the right thing, ”says Match TV.

The NHL has a little time left before the opening of training camps, after which it will no longer be possible to make changes to the calendar. Until that moment, the league will continue to negotiate, the source said, and as a result will have to give the go-ahead at the end of August.