The CHL has announced the cancellation of the tournament for the 2020-21 season because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
The UK’s representative was set to be Cardiff Devils but they had to pull out last month following the delay – and likely cancellation – of the Elite League season.
Travel restrictions between participating countries had already put several match-ups at risk. Although a number of authorities would potentially issue special permits for travelling sport teams, a vast amount of uncertainty and risks remained.
Many discussions and evaluations have taken place in the past few weeks and months with involved parties, taking all available facts and forecasts into consideration.
“All things considered, the CHL board had to come to the very difficult conclusion that playing a 2020-21 season is not manageable for the Champions Hockey League or the participating clubs from both an operational and economic perspective,” CHL president Peter Zahner said after an extraordinary video conference on Tuesday.
“The health and safety of all participating teams is of the highest priority and with the current development of the epidemiological situation, we unfortunately would not be able to guarantee that everyone always returns home in good health and without needing to undergo quarantine restrictions, no matter how sophisticated our protection concepts are.”