IIHF Council meeting concludes
by Adam Steiss|02 NOV 2021
The IIHF Council toured the construction site of Swiss Life Arena, the future home of the Swiss National League's Zurich Lions.
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The IIHF Council came together for a three-day meeting in Zurich, Switzerland from 31 October-2nd November. 

It was the first Council meeting to be held under newly-elected IIHF President Luc Tardif, who took over the IIHF Presidency from René Fasel following the Council elections held in St. Petersburg on 25 September. 

The Council went through a series of intensive orienteering sessions, where they were briefed on all IIHF Office operations and met with IIHF Directors and other staff members. Among the key topics covered including:

-IIHF Ethics Code
-IIHF disciplinary procedures
-Council renumeration & expense guidelines
-IIHF tournament operations

As part of the introductory meeting, the IIHF Council also committed to the development of Strategic Plan created in cooperation with the IIHF Member National Associations, which would be prepared and presented in May 2022.

Initial discussions were also held concerning the makeup of the IIHF Committees, the recommending bodies to the Council on various topics affecting ice hockey. The announcement of the IIHF Committee makeup and structure will be released at a later date. The Council also went over the chairman assignments for the upcoming 2021/22 season’s World Championship program.

The IIHF Council also received an update concerning the progress of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. 

As part of ongoing evaluations of the Chinese men’s national team’s participation in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games Men’s ice hockey tournament, IIHF President Luc Tardif briefed the Council on the status of the team and reviewed the eligibility status of the players submitted in the initial team roster long list. 

The IIHF and the Chinese Ice Hockey Association are working together to schedule two games with the Chinese national team in a joint effort to evaluate the status of the team’s preparations for Beijing 2022. The eligible national team players will compete as part of Kunlun Red Star in the KHL team's league games on 15 and 17 November. Following the games, the IIHF Council will reconvene to discuss the next steps forward. 

“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.” said IIHF President Luc Tardif. “We are working with the CIHA to confirm their player eligibility according to IIHF rules, and we will continue to assist them as they work towards preparing their team for the Olympic Games.” 
Top (left to right): Viesturs Koziols, Anders Larsson, Raeto Raffainer, Pavel Bure, Franz Reindl, Andrea Gios, Heikki Hietanen. Bottom (left to right): Henrik Bach Nielsen, Petr Briza, Marta Zawadzka, Luc Tardif, Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer, Bob Nicholson, Aivaz Omorkanov