Advertisement

All officials for world junior hockey championship in Edmonton will be from Canada

Click to play video: 'NHL bubble lessons learned as Edmonton prepares for World Juniors encore'
NHL bubble lessons learned as Edmonton prepares for World Juniors encore
WATCH (Sept. 29): The success of the NHL bubble has people hoping for a repeat performance when the World Juniors come to Edmonton at the end of 2020. Vinesh Pratap takes a look at the lessons learned and what it could mean for the city – Sep 29, 2020

All 26 on-ice officials at the world junior men’s hockey championships in Edmonton will be from Canada.

International Ice Hockey Federation tournaments normally have an international cross section of referees and linesmen.

The IIHF is limiting the pool of officials to the host country to reduce risk of the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The 10-team world under-20 men’s tournament is scheduled for Dec. 25 to Jan. 5 in the Alberta capital.

Click to play video: 'A barber, a band and a bubble: How an Edmonton hairdresser ended up inside Rogers Place'
A barber, a band and a bubble: How an Edmonton hairdresser ended up inside Rogers Place

“The game officials we would normally choose would have come from many different countries,” IIHF officiating manager Danny Kurmann said Wednesday in a statement.

Story continues below advertisement

“Every additional person we bring into the bubble is a risk, so we decided to source the officials locally in order to reduce the risk to travelling personnel and teams.”

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The IIHF said all 10 participating countries approved of the decision.

“Special events require special measures, and we are confident that this group will be able to uphold the officiating standards of this tournament,” IIHF officiating committee chairman Sergej Gontcharov said.

Click to play video: 'B.C. hockey player on a mission to make World Junior roster'
B.C. hockey player on a mission to make World Junior roster

Sponsored content

AdChoices