NHL players will be back at the Olympics in February for the first time since 2014, but the planned main arena for ice hockey might not be ready in time for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games in Italy.
Construction on the venue is behind schedule, and organizers say there presently is no backup plan if it is not completed in time.
“There is no Plan B,” Andrea Francisi, the chief Games operations officer for Milan-Cortina said Saturday, according to The Associated Press. “So necessarily we have to be able to organize the competition in an impeccable manner at Santagiulia.”
The ice hockey competition is scheduled to begin with a women’s game on Feb. 5, one day ahead of the Opening Ceremonies.
The men’s tournament is slated to take place Feb. 11-22.
Francisi added he is confident “for the moment” that the venue will be ready in time.
“There are daily updates in the sense that our team is there working every day,” he said. “The companies which are involved with the building of the facility have sped up their work significantly.
“We’re monitoring all that daily together with them. There’s great collaboration between us. We’re creating a coordinated plan between their work and our preparations and for the moment we’re healthily optimistic, but 100% we’ll do it.”
Typically, Olympic venues are required to be tested a year or more in advance, especially arenas with ice to address any quality and safety concerns.
But the AP reported that a scheduled test event at the 16,000 seat arena already had to be postponed until the middle of January.
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