IIHF Cancels Women's World Championships in Canada Amid Coronavirus Concerns

The International Ice Hockey Federation told the Associated Press on Saturday that it has canceled the Women's World Championship in Canada because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The tournament was set to run from March 31 through April 10 in Nova Scotia.

According to CNN, there are now more than 100,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide, with over 3,400 deaths. The vast majority of the cases have been reported in mainland China.

As of Friday, only 54 cases of coronavirus had been reported in Canada, with no deaths, per The Canadian Press.

According to Jared Clinton of The Hockey News, the Women's World Championship is the latest in a string of recent cancellations by the IIHF due to concerns regarding coronavirus, which includes a number of U18 World Championship events and some lower-level Women's World Championship events.

This marks the second time the Women's World Championship has been canceled since its inception in 1990. The previous instance occurred in 2003 under similar circumstances amid the SARS outbreak, with the competition scheduled to be hosted in Beijing.

The United States has won each of the past five Women's World Championship titles and eight of the past nine. All but one of those wins came against Canada in the finals.

The U.S. and Canada were once again expected to meet with the gold medal on the line, but there will now be no Women's World Championship until 2021.

Amid the cancellation, the IIHF has yet to announce the status of the 2020 Men's World Championship, which is scheduled for May 8-24 in Switzerland.