The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on Wednesday that Israel had been expelled from all competitions.
Israeli media reported on Friday that the Ice Hockey Federation of Israel (IHFI), along with the Israeli Olympic Committee, will file a claim with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over Israel’s ousting from the ice hockey world championship.
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on Wednesday that Israel had been expelled from all competitions due to “safety and security” concerns.
“In accordance with IIHF’s duty of care to protect all participants at IIHF Competitions (…) the IIHF Council (…) has decided to restrict the Israeli National Team from participating in IIHF Championships,” the Federation’s statement read.
The same procedure was used to ban Russia and Belarus from competition two years ago.
The Jerusalem Post quoted Yael Arad, chairwoman of the Israeli Olympic Committee, as saying that this is a “dangerous decision that stinks of antisemitism under the guise of safety for the athletes.”
According to further clarifications offered by the IIHF, the decision “currently affects the Israeli National Team’s participation in the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III Group B scheduled to start on 22 January 2024”.
I get that. It is, sadly, why a lot of people and countries look the other way on criminal things the United States does, or China.
The thing I don’t get is why they’d do that for Israel. It doesn’t seem to me like the IIHF is going to suffer any particular consequence for calling Israel or Russia out, other than a certain contingent of people getting real upset with them. Maybe I am wrong and they’ll lose a bunch of sponsorships; I honestly have no idea, but it seems from my (uninformed) perspective like they’re just being cowards about it.
Maybe specific people would be let go?