IIHF cancels World Junior Championship due to COVID-19 cases

One day after Team USA had to forfeit a game to Switzerland after two players tested positive for COVID-19, the International Ice Hockey Federation confirmed the remainder of the 2022 World Juniors Championship has been canceled because of issues related to the coronavirus. 

As Kristen Shilton noted for ESPN, the decision came after the Czech Republic and Russia were forced to forfeit contests due to COVID-19 cases. 

"Together with the teams, we came into this event with full confidence in the COVID-19 protocols put in place by the IIHF, the LOC, Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services and the Public Health Agency of Canada," IIHF President Luc Tardif said for a prepared statement. "The ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant forced us to readjust our protocols almost immediately upon arrival to attempt to stay ahead of any potential spread. This included daily testing and the team quarantine requirement when positive cases were confirmed.

"We owed it to the participating teams to do our best to create the conditions necessary for this event to work. Unfortunately, this was not enough. We now have to take some time and focus on getting all players and team staff back home safely." 

Per Shilton, players and staff members were not placed in a fully secure "bubble" site away from the public for this competition. The Athletic's Corey Pronman wrote that multiple teams flew commercial for the tournament, and some players were exposed to potentially infected wedding attendees at a hotel.