China will take part in the Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament at the Beijing Games despite concerns that the host nation will be embarrassed competitively by established hockey nations.
China is currently seeded in Group A with top-ranked Canada, the U.S. and Germany. Although China is the No. 12 seed in the Olympic tournament, it is ranked 32nd in the world. China earned an automatic spot as the host nation, a tradition that dates back to the 2006 Olympics in Italy.
The International Ice Hockey Federation council reaffirmed China’s status in the tournament during its three-day meeting in Zurich that concluded Tuesday.
“To be clear, the IIHF is not going to remove the Chinese team from the Olympic Games, the status of the men’s national team as a host nation participant in the Olympic ice hockey tournament was confirmed by Congress and remains unchanged,” IIHF president Luc Tardif said via the IIHF website. “We are working with the CIHA [Chinese Ice Hockey Association] to confirm…
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