IIHF President Explains Looming Olympic Deadline

(ATR) International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel will meet next week to firm up a deadline for the National Hockey League to decide its PyeongChang 2018 participation.

Fasel confirmed to Around the Rings that a deadline will be reached after speaking with various national federations.

"Our federations need to know the sooner the better about the decision of NHL/[NHL Players Association]," Fasel said. "Next week I will be in touch with them to finally decide about the deadline."

The NHL continues to delay making a decision to shut down its league to accommodate players travelling to South Korea for the 2018 Winter Games. The NHL has participated in every Winter Games since 1998.

Meetings were held last month between the IOC, IIHF, NHL, and NHLPA in New York. Negotiations have stalled over which sporting body will provide travel insurance for NHL players. Previously, that responsibility fell to the IOC, which said after the 2014 Olympics it would reverse course. The NHL also remains concerned about loss of revenue from the multi-week stoppage required for Olympic participation.

Fasel told the Associated Press in an interview last week that a deadline of late April would be imposed on the NHL to encourage a decision. The IIHF President told ATR in a previous interview that the NHL would be missing out on a great opportunity to grow the league’s brand in Asia if it chooses to pass on PyeongChang.

"I consider [NHL commissioner] Gary Bettman a very smart person with what he has done with the NHL in the last 20 years," Fasel said. "I would not understand if he doesn’t go to PyeongChang and then it would be really difficult to come back for Beijing [in 2022] because people will be very disappointed."

"I hope they do not make the mistake not to come."

Written by Aaron Bauer and Gerard Farek

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