Danish captain Josefine Jakobsen and her teammates could play the next IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship on home ice.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
The 2021 IIHF Semi-Annual and General Congress in St. Petersburg, Russia, approved a change in the IIHF Statutes & Bylaws to allow the top-level IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship to be played annually including in Olympic years. The 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship will be hosted in August.
The IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship started in 1990 and has become an annual event since 1997 except for Olympic years. Since 2014 the lower divisions of the Women’s Worlds have also been played in Olympic years but not the top division with the teams participating in the Olympics creating difficulties in the promotion/relegation system.
Since many players have day jobs or study, having two big tournaments within two months would have caused difficulties. The solution that will be applied in the future is that the Women’s Worlds will normally played in March/April as in the past except in Olympic years when the tournament will be organized in August.
The proposal was approved by the IIHF Council as well as the IIHF Women’s Committee and the IIHF Competition & Coordination Committee and presented to the delegates at the last congress in June and today the formal change in the IIHF Statutes & Bylaws has been approved by the membership.
“We had many times discussions with the top countries. They are always at the Olympics but couldn’t play a few weeks later again, so we discussed whether it could work if we played in August,” IIHF Women’s Committee chairwoman Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer said when presenting the proposal at the last congress.
“We know that after the Olympics many players end their careers with a highlight and that gives the opportunity to work with new players entering the team. We will now speak with potential host countries for 2022.”
Apart from giving the top female players another stage to play and promote the women’s game, another reason for the proposal were challenges with promotion and relegation since the lower divisions were played while at the top level no relegation happened.
“We had a good conversation within the Council. We wanted to find a long-term solution because we had a challenge with promotion and relegation every four years. We wanted to solve different issues with this proposal. It is a really fair solution for all the countries participating in the women’s program,” said Kolbenheyer.
The Danish Ice Hockey Union has applied to host the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in August 2022. Denmark was in recent years promoted to the top division and played at the top-level Women’s Worlds in 1993 and 2021.
UPDATE December 2021: The tournament will be held from 25 August to 4 September 2022 in Herning and Frederikshavn.
The IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship started in 1990 and has become an annual event since 1997 except for Olympic years. Since 2014 the lower divisions of the Women’s Worlds have also been played in Olympic years but not the top division with the teams participating in the Olympics creating difficulties in the promotion/relegation system.
Since many players have day jobs or study, having two big tournaments within two months would have caused difficulties. The solution that will be applied in the future is that the Women’s Worlds will normally played in March/April as in the past except in Olympic years when the tournament will be organized in August.
The proposal was approved by the IIHF Council as well as the IIHF Women’s Committee and the IIHF Competition & Coordination Committee and presented to the delegates at the last congress in June and today the formal change in the IIHF Statutes & Bylaws has been approved by the membership.
“We had many times discussions with the top countries. They are always at the Olympics but couldn’t play a few weeks later again, so we discussed whether it could work if we played in August,” IIHF Women’s Committee chairwoman Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer said when presenting the proposal at the last congress.
“We know that after the Olympics many players end their careers with a highlight and that gives the opportunity to work with new players entering the team. We will now speak with potential host countries for 2022.”
Apart from giving the top female players another stage to play and promote the women’s game, another reason for the proposal were challenges with promotion and relegation since the lower divisions were played while at the top level no relegation happened.
“We had a good conversation within the Council. We wanted to find a long-term solution because we had a challenge with promotion and relegation every four years. We wanted to solve different issues with this proposal. It is a really fair solution for all the countries participating in the women’s program,” said Kolbenheyer.
The Danish Ice Hockey Union has applied to host the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in August 2022. Denmark was in recent years promoted to the top division and played at the top-level Women’s Worlds in 1993 and 2021.
UPDATE December 2021: The tournament will be held from 25 August to 4 September 2022 in Herning and Frederikshavn.