The 2023 IIHF Semi-Annual Congress brought together representatives from 71 Member National Federations in Vilamoura, Portugal. The multi-day event not only addressed business matters such as housekeeping of regulations and bylaws, but was also an opportunity for reflection, development and building greater connections between multiple organizations.

In several workshops the delegates have been talking about the future of hockey. Participants from as far as Australia and New Zealand were in attendance to bring a truly global lens to the annual event.

Partnership plans and updated agreement with Hockey Canada

Hockey Canada will be expanding its commitment to promoting women’s hockey. Canada will host the Women’s Worlds in the Olympic years of 2026 and 2030 and is set to stage the Women’s U18s in 2026, 2028 and 2030.

The ongoing arrangement with Hockey Canada over hosting the IIHF Women’s World Championship has been updated to reflect the decision to play the tournament in Olympic seasons. During that conversation, Hockey Canada also expressed a desire to host more Women’s U18 World Championships.

The new agreement will see Hockey Canada host the Women’s World Championship in the Olympic years of 2026 and 2030. As a result, the 2027 tournament, previously due to take place in Canada, will be reallocated in due course in addition, Hockey Canada will host the Women’s U18 World Championship in 2026, 2028 and 2030.

“We want to have these tournaments at the same level in Canada, in Europe and elsewhere, and that’s exactly what we are trying to build together,” said IIHF President Luc Tardif.

IIHF Sustainability Award goes to Switzerland

The IIHF encourages all MNAs to make sustainability a priority. Since 2015, Switzerland has taken this call to action seriously. The 2023 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship included action plans around staff and volunteers, using tap water, when possible, the use of electric vehicles, and high engagement with the community, making the event their most sustainable to date.

Other tournament hosts

The meeting also approved the host venues for the five tournaments that were pending after the annual congress in Tampere back in May. The assignments were as follows:
 

• 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship Division IIIB: Bosnia will stage the event in Sarajevo from Feb. 23-29. DPR Korea, Hong Kong, Iran, Philippines and Singapore will join the host nation.
• 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship Division IV: Kuwait City will host the tournament from April 16-19. Malaysia, Mongolia and Indonesia will also compete.
• 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship Division IA: After China’s promotion to the top division, it was not possible to continue in Shenzhen as planned. Instead, Austria will host the event from April 21-27. The host city is yet to be confirmed. Korea, Hungary, France, Netherlands and Norway are the other competing teams.
• 2024 IIHF Men’s U18 World Championship Division IA: Denmark will host this event from April 14-20 in a host city to be confirmed. Germany, Japan, Hungary, Ukraine and Austria are the other competing teams.
• 2024 IIHF Women’s U18 World Championship Division IA: The Italian city of Egna will stage the tournament from Jan. 6-12. Host nation Italy will be joined by Japan, France, Hungary, Austria and Denmark.
• 2025 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship has been reallocated to the USA.
• 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship will be held in Slovakia.

 
The next Congress will convene in Prague, Czech Republic during the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship.