Sheffield Steelers' hopes of representing UK in Europe dashed

The club had been scheduled to play in the Continental Cup in Asiago, Italy in November.

But the International Ice Hockey Federation has now decided to cancel the 2020/21 programme, due to the ongoing coronavirus situation.

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“Unfortunately, the nature of this tournament involves six different countries hosting and 20 different travelling clubs, and under the current global situation with the pandemic we do not feel that it is safe to proceed with this tournament,” said IIHF President René Fasel.

Steelers' owner Tony Smith said: "It is a pity, but we of course understand the reasoning.

"If our domestic season is to start in December, as we'd like it to, I would love to have brought a team in three weeks earlier to train and then play in Italy."

But the club boss admitted the club could have found themselves in a vulnerable position if the tournament had gone ahead, the 'R' rate had changed, and Government rules in November suddenly enforced a quarantine on players returning to the UK from Italy.

The Star believes some clubs - not all of the 10 in the EIHL - believe they could start the domestic programme as late as February.

That would mean a clash with the 2021 IIHF World Championships which are due to begin on Friday, May 21 next year.

But Smith has told The Star that the club would give their own Great Britain players permission to join the national squad, if they wanted to represent their country rather than finish off the season at home.

Recently, Manchester Storm boss Ryan Finnerty suggested all EIHL clubs were "on the same page" about wanting a December 5 start.

It would be interesting to see how many clubs would continue to share that unity and take part in any shorter format league which started well into the new year.

Nottingham Panthers' owner Neil Black has said: “We’re weighing up all pros and cons, including if there’s a further delay beyond December 5 and whether that’s in the long term interest for all the stakeholders in our sport.”

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So far, none of the players who have committed to Steelers' roster for 2020-21 have indicated they now want to go to other teams in countries perceived to have a better chance of starting earlier.

But Smith admitted it was only natural that some may be "feeling twitchy" about the circumstances.

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