The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia celebrate after winning the African Cup for ice hockey club teams in 2016.
photo: Said Mrigua
The International Ice Hockey Federation grows to 82 member nations with the admission of Tunisia as associate member by the 2021 IIHF Semi-Annual Congress in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Tunisia becomes the fourth African country after South Africa and two countries in the neighbourhood, Morocco and Algeria, and the eighth Arab country in the IIHF.
With no full-size ice rink available to play in Tunisia, the hockey movement is led by Tunisians abroad, in particular by President Ihab Ayed, who played for Francais Volants Paris and the Courbevoie Coqs in the fourth tier of French hockey. It’s in the Paris suburb where Ayed organized his Tunisian team’s first game on 14 June 2014 that ended with a 6-5 win for Courbevoie.
The Tunisian Ice Hockey Association (ATHG) was formally founded in 2013 and worked on recognition within the Tunisian sport authorities after the first game and started to play in tournaments in the Arab region.
The Carthage Eagles, a team of players from the Tunisian diaspora in Europe and North America, won the 2016 African Cup for ice hockey club teams in Morocco in a tight gold-medal game against the host club Rabat Capitals. (Click here for a story from the event.)
The team also participated in the 2018 Arab Clubs Ice Hockey Championship in Abu Dhabi where it finished in third place behind the Abu Dhabi Storms (UAE) and Team Lebanon after beating the Pharaohs (Egypt) for third place. Adrien Sebag, who normally plays for French third-tier team Meudon Cometes, was named MVP of the tournament.
Click here for the member page of Tunisia.
The congress also approved the change of membership of Singapore to Full Member status.
Tunisia becomes the fourth African country after South Africa and two countries in the neighbourhood, Morocco and Algeria, and the eighth Arab country in the IIHF.
With no full-size ice rink available to play in Tunisia, the hockey movement is led by Tunisians abroad, in particular by President Ihab Ayed, who played for Francais Volants Paris and the Courbevoie Coqs in the fourth tier of French hockey. It’s in the Paris suburb where Ayed organized his Tunisian team’s first game on 14 June 2014 that ended with a 6-5 win for Courbevoie.
The Tunisian Ice Hockey Association (ATHG) was formally founded in 2013 and worked on recognition within the Tunisian sport authorities after the first game and started to play in tournaments in the Arab region.
The Carthage Eagles, a team of players from the Tunisian diaspora in Europe and North America, won the 2016 African Cup for ice hockey club teams in Morocco in a tight gold-medal game against the host club Rabat Capitals. (Click here for a story from the event.)
The team also participated in the 2018 Arab Clubs Ice Hockey Championship in Abu Dhabi where it finished in third place behind the Abu Dhabi Storms (UAE) and Team Lebanon after beating the Pharaohs (Egypt) for third place. Adrien Sebag, who normally plays for French third-tier team Meudon Cometes, was named MVP of the tournament.
Click here for the member page of Tunisia.
The congress also approved the change of membership of Singapore to Full Member status.