IIHF president: 2022 Olympics will boost ice hockey in China

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Beijing hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics will be a big boost to the development of winter sports in China, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Rene Fasel, said on a visit to China this week.

Speaking to CGTN's Sports Scene, the 69-year-old Swiss noted that the president of China's Ice Hockey Federation was working very hard to promote the sport in China.

He also shared his views on China's ice hockey development and how to make the sport sustainable after the 2022 Games.

The IIHF decided last May to allow both China's women's and men's teams to automatically qualify for the 2022 Olympics as host nation.

In the past, all teams, including those of the hosts, needed to go through the qualifying process to ensure participation in the Olympics. The first such exception was made for South Korea in last year's Pyeongchang Winter Games.

"If we do not qualify the two teams, I think ice hockey would have little chance to go forward in China," Fasel, who was in Beijing this week for the IIHF Women World Championship Division I Group B tournament, told Sports Scene.

"The Chinese Ice Hockey Federation has to put some structures in place so that we can be sustainable after the Games. Actually, that's our main goal, that ice hockey can be sustainable after the Winter Olympic Games in 2022,” he added.

China may take another 10 years to be competitive at top international level but it could learn from European countries like Switzerland or Germany, where ice hockey is hugely popular, Fasel said.

With less than three years until the 2022 Winter Olympics, the IIHF is working very closely with Chinese sports authorities to develop ice hockey in China.

And IIHF chief was optimistic about the sport's future in China: “China has a population of nearly 1.4 billion people. President Xi set a goal of 300 million people practicing winter sports... It's a challenge, but if the Chinese want to do it, they will do it.”