Ice hockey – Far from the various Worlds that dot the ice hockey planet, young national teams played in Germany this week in a development competition, under the aegis of the IIHF. This notably gave rise to a historic confrontation between a South American nation and another African one.
Several months ago, when he was running for the seat of president of theIIHF before being elected Luc Tardif confided to us, speaking of the federations being structured: “There are those who go to great lengths, who are not in places where hockey is recognized, and perform miracles”. This week at feet (Germany), these are the nations that had the good fortune to come together to play a development tournament, organized by the IIHF.
Colombia-Algeria, a poster that smells of football at the ice rink
Six teams were invited, and none of them has yet integrated the 55 nations classified in the IIHF ranking. Among them, four European nations were represented: the Portugall’Irelandle Liechtenstein et Andorra. More exotic on the other hand, the presence of theAlgeria and the Colombia. Indeed, these two teams come from continents that do not lend themselves naturally to the practice of ice hockey by their respective climates. Thus, these are the only two lands not to have teams yet integrated into the IIHF ranking despite several members. For now at least.
Beyond the results and the low quality of play due to the amateurism of these nascent nations, a new stone in the rich history of the world body of ice hockey has been laid. This Sunday, a completely new poster in 113 years of history took place : a hockey match between South American and African nations. If this will not make the rounds of the media, Colombia and Algeria are pioneers of this expansion desired by the IIHF. The Colombians won the match with the score of 11-1, but the result is secondary.
And that’s the end of our first official tournament since joining @IIHFHockeythank you Germany #123VivaLAlgerie pic.twitter.com/LguDjeIqeB
– Hockey Algeria (@Hockey_Algeria) May 7, 2022
Colombia win the tournament
The most important thing is elsewhere since this allowed these developing nations to be able to compete in real competition, before eventually integrating the IIHF Worlds. A luxury not very obvious for these federations benefiting from rudimentary means, and still completely immersed in amateurism. It also rewards the efforts made by local authorities to develop the practice. For the record, the Colombia won the first edition of this « Development Cup »in front of Liechtenstein and theIreland. L’Algeria she finished 4th. These encouraging premises will certainly be followed since other nations tend to participate in this type of competition, like three other African nations (South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia), or three other South Americans (Argentina, Brazil , Chile).
–
