Affected by the epidemic, NHL players will not be able to participate in the Winter Olympics.

The occupation occupation of novel coronavirus pneumonia (NHL) official announced in the United States 22 local time, because the new crowns pneumonia cases and the number of games postponed, the occupation season of North American professional hockey league has been seriously affected, the North American professional hockey league players will not participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Gary Bateman, President of NHL, said that NHL will use the available dates from February 6 to 22 (the original NHL off-season during the Winter Olympics) to reschedule the games that have been postponed or may be postponed in the future.

Bateman said: Novel coronavirus pneumonia occupation and the occupation of the North American professional hockey league respect and appreciate the wishes of the NHL players to represent their country in the strongest event. For this reason, we have been waiting for as long as possible to explore all possible options to promote the players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Unfortunately, the recent new crown pneumonia related events have had a serious impact on the regular season of the North American professional hockey league. As of December 23, 50 games have been postponed. Therefore, it is no longer feasible to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. We very much recognize and thank the IOC, the International Hockey Federation and the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee for all the work they have done to prepare for the reception of NHL players. However, despite everyone’s best efforts, the current situation makes it impossible for us to participate. We look forward to participating in the next Winter Olympics. ”

In September this year, NHL and the North American professional hockey league players’ Union announced that they had reached an agreement with the International Hockey Federation to leave a gap in the regular season schedule of NHL 2021-2022 to create opportunities for NHL players to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.