Ice Hockey Australia has announced it will not host the Division II Group A World Championships in Melbourne due to safety concerns. Israel was also supposed to participate in the event at the turn of April and May.
Photo: Oscar J. Barroso / Zuma Press / Profimedia
Australian hockey players will not see the home world championship this year.
In addition to Australia and Israel, the fourth highest category of the WC includes the representative selections of Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates.
“The decision was made primarily with the safety and security of athletes, volunteers, spectators and other participants in mind,” the Australian federation said in a statement, which did not cite Israel’s involvement as a reason.
According to Australian media, she did so in an internal e-mail addressed to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). She has not yet commented on the cancellation of the championship. However, it is likely that one of the remaining countries will win the tournament.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the move unfortunate. According to him, the government has taken sufficient measures to protect Jews in Australia.
“This is a decision of the Ice Hockey Federation,” he told Channel Nine. “We address these issues in every possible way because we understand that anti-Semitism is very damaging to the Jewish community.”
The Australian federation renounced the organization after a number of anti-Israel protests that took place in the country in recent months in response to the war in Gaza, with which Israel responded to a terrorist attack by Hamas from the year before last September.
At the beginning of December, a synagogue burned in Melbourne, which apparently became the target of an attack by arsonists. The Australian counter-terrorism unit is investigating the incident.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
