Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
The fact is, all of these same factors exist save the bolded and yet the World Cup of soccer is not only going ahead, it changed the entire schedule of World Soccer in order to go ahead.
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I think that's completely different. The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious soccer - maybe even the #1 sports tournament in the world. It's the equivalent to winning the Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal at the same time. It's watched by a billion people. The hockey world cup is a minor event.
Because of how hockey is structured, the primary world leagues are the NHL and the KHL and because of the Ukraine War, the KHL is heavily impacted. Russia is also one of the major powers of hockey. In soccer terms it would be as if Brazil declared war on Argentina and committed war crimes and atrocities and nobody else wanted them in the tournament. Russia has already been excluded from a lot of European hockey. Look at Dominik Hasek's activism to ban all Russian hockey players. In this atmosphere, it would be too complex and even controversial to stage one.