International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) president Rene’ Fasel placed the emphasis on NHL players to persuade the league to compete at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
NHL Players’ Association chief Don Fehr said it is a little more complicated than that.
Although Fehr believes it is in the league’s best interest to compete at the 2022 Olympics, he told reporters on Thursday that he is not ready to commit to reopening bargaining talks next year in a bid to have that happen.
“I would like to believe that by the time we get there that the owners would have a much greater interest and understanding of the potential value that it could have,” Fehr said, referring to the 2022 Games. “Whether those discussions take place in collective bargaining or take place separately in discussing the international agenda or some combination of that, I think it’s too soon to say.”
Fehr also put the onus back on Fasel by noting the IIHF would have to budge on its position of refusing to pay for transportation and players’ insurance costs for 2022.
Fehr was responding to comments Fasel made following a news conference at the world junior hockey championship in Buffalo, New York, on Thursday.
Fehr spoke while attending the 10-nation tournament later in the day,.
The NHL elected against having its players participate next month’s Winter Games in South Korea and has yet to commit to whether it will participate in 2022.
Fasel said he intended to do everything in his power to convince the NHL to return to the Olympics.
He then referenced the National Hockey League Players’ Association by saying it could apply pressure on the league in contract talks.
The NHL’s labor deal runs through the 2021 to 2022 season, but includes a window to be renegotiated in September 2020.
“The solution is in the hands of the players,” Fasel said. “Because without the players what can we do? If they want to come to the Games, they have to say so.”
Asked if it was realistic to reach a deal, Fasel said: “I have to. I have no choice. I have to for the hockey fans, for our game.”
The NHL backed out of participating in South Korea because of a variety of concerns. One was the 14-hour time difference between Pyeongchang and North America’s Eastern time zone. A majority of the games would be played in the early morning hours in North America.
The NHL sought licensing agreements with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to market its players competing at the Games. The league also wanted either the IOC or IIHF to pay for transportation costs, which Fasel said would cost about US$15 million.
The transportation costs are a non-starter, because the IIHF cannot afford it, Fasel said.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly attended the world junior tournament last week and said it was premature to discuss the league’s plans to compete at the 2022 Games.
Talks would not begin until after this year’s Winter Olympics are over, Daly said.
“The issues with each Olympics are different,” Daly said. “Obviously, some of the logistical difficulties we have with South Korea will be the same in China, but maybe there are some opportunities in China that aren’t in South Korea.”
Fehr believes the NHL lost an opportunity to begin showcasing hockey to Asia by not participating at this year’s Olympics.
He hopes the league would place a larger emphasis on competing at Beijing to take advantage of what is essentially an untapped hockey market with a large population base and a Chinese government that has expressed interest in developing winter sports, including hockey, Fehr said.
The NHL has already tested the market by playing two exhibition games in China in September last year.
“It seems like a big opportunity to me and I would hope and I would believe the owners share that view,” Fehr said. “I see a lot of path, but I think it’s much too soon to make any judgements about the likelihood of it.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but