Australia’s ice hockey federation has cancelled an international qualifying tournament, the Melbourne leg of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Men's Division IIA World Championship, which was set to be held at the O'Brien Icehouse in Docklands in late April and early May, involving Australia, Israel, Belgium, Serbia, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.
It has allegedly been cancelled to protect the Israeli national team. Numerous Australian news outlets referenced an internal email from Ice Hockey Australia (IHA) to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) stating it could not go ahead with the tournament due to safety and security concerns surrounding Israel’s attendance.
IHA voiced that it made this decision after consultation with police and venues that would have been involved. However, the federation did not explicitly mention Israel, stating it could not discuss “global issues outside of the sport.”
The federation continued: “The decision was primarily made to ensure the safety and security of athletes, volunteers, spectators, and other participants. IHA does not shy away from making this decision with safety at the forefront.”
Both antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks have evidently increased at a worrying rate within Australia following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023 and Israel’s war on Gaza.
In Sydney on Monday, graffiti containing an antisemitic slur was sprayed on a car and following an arson attack at a synagogue in Melbourne last month, Australia launched an antisemitism task force. These are some of the issues that may have influenced IHA’s decision, along with the fact that multiple Jewish organisations have expressed that the Australian government should be doing more to protect them.
Tensions have also been high during sporting events elsewhere. In November last year, Israeli football fans clashed with apparent pro-Palestinian protesters before and after a Europa League football match between their team Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax in Amsterdam.
In one video Israeli supporters were heard singing, 'Let the IDF win, and the Arabs lose!’
According to Amsterdam city council members, Israeli fans instigated the violence after arriving in the city and attacking Palestinian supporters before the match.
Australia’s Prime Minister Antony Albanese spoke out to express that the cancellation of the tournament is “unfortunate,” but that the Australian government has taken sufficient action to protect its Jewish population. However, he also stated that most Australians would not even be familiar with the sport of ice hockey, and that Australia still has the ability to host major sporting events:
“We've just hosted a wonderful cricket Test series and you were just commenting in the sports section there about the upcoming Australian Open and Australia in tennis. Australia can host wonderful sporting events and we should…
This is a decision made by Ice Hockey Australia. They're not a body, I've got to say, I'm familiar with and it's not a sport I'm familiar with, like most Australians, I think…
But we should be opposed, and are, as a country to any form of racism, but particularly to antisemitism. And we are a tolerant country that have got to have respect for every person, regardless of their faith and regardless of their ethnicity, just to respect people for who they are. And this is an unfortunate decision.”
It is also reported that Albanese made the rather simplistic statement: “We're addressing in every single way possible these issues because we understand that [antisemitism] is very hurtful for the Jewish community.”
There are conflicting views surrounding the alleged decision to protect the Israeli national team.
Co-Chief Executive of Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin, expressed that it was “a dreadful decision and should be rescinded.”
He continued: “It cannot be that violent extremists dictate which visiting sporting teams come to our country and deprive Australians of the joy of watching live international sports.”
Victorian Liberal Senator and Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson posted on X: “It's an indictment on Victoria and a disaster for Australia's international reputation that sporting events are apparently being cancelled because antisemitism has been allowed to get completely out of control by state and federal Labor.”
Hosting Israeli national teams in sports tournaments in the West has become a topic of growing discussion, particularly as calls for a ceasefire continue to increase.
