27 March 2017

US team’s boycott of IIHF World Championships could raise testing issues

A decision by the US Women’s National Hockey Team to boycott the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Championship is likely to raise issues with the testing programme for the event, which kicks off in the US in four days time. The 23 players of the US national team are set to boycott the event in protest against wage and athlete support inequality. It is understood that USA Hockey has been canvassing for replacement players to take part in the World Championships, which take place in Plymouth, USA, 31 March to 7 April.

However, as the IIHF is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code and the US National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL – which supports the boycott) is not, only the 23 national team players have been subject to any meaningful testing ahead of the tournament. Any replacement players secured by USA Hockey will not have been tested. Under US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing statistics, only Shiann Darkangelo has been tested in 2017, and she supports the boycott campaign, as do a group of US Senators (see below).

It is unclear what position the IIHF would take on the replacement of the entire US team so close to the start of an event. There have been suggestions that Russia might object to the lack of testing conducted on US players, however that might be considered a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Russia replaced almost its entire squad ahead of an IIHF U18 tournament in the US a year ago due to concerns about potential adverse analytical findings (AAFs) for meldonium.

At this late stage, there are doubts as to whether US Hockey will be able to secure a replacement team at all, as players it has contacted are standing with the US Women’s team (#BeBoldForChange). It also appears unlikely that USA Hockey will be able to reach an agreement with the Women’s team ahead of the tournament, as the players have accused USA Hockey of distributing misinformation.

‘USA Hockey has offered terms to the Women’s National Team players for the Olympic training and performance period that include the opportunity to be provided with more than $90,000 in training stipends and other performance incentives for gold-medal performances in both the upcoming IIHF Women’s World Championship and the Olympic Winter Games’ read a 17 March USA Hockey statement. ‘In the case of silver-medal performances in both events, players could receive $74,000 each. USA Hockey’s offer to the players is more than 50% greater than what they received in 2014 […] In total, the player’s demands, including compensation, benefits and other expenses of operating the program, exceed $8 million in an Olympic year and $5.7 in a non-Olympic year.’

‘USA Hockey has issued a press release with patently false information about the status of it negotiations with the players of the Women’s National Hockey Team’, read a US Women’s National Team statement in response (see below). ‘The players are disheartened by the response, which fails to distinguish between funds from the US Olympic Committee and funds from USA Hockey. USA Hockey’s support for the Women’s National Team has been limited to the six-month period surrounding the Olympics – meaning that in 2014, USA Hockey paid the Women’s Olympic Team $1,000 per month for the six months leading up to and including the Olympics, and virtually nothing outside of that time period, despite requirements that the players train on their own time, report to training camps, and compete in the World Championship, Four Nations Cup, and other games during the 42 months between Olympic periods’.

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