Since its introduction in 1990, the Women's World Championship has taken place every year with the exception of Olympic years. This will now change - the 2021 IIHF Semi-Annual and General Congress has approved a proposal made by the IIHF Women’s Committee and the IIHF Competition & Coordination Committee. It had already been approved by the IIHF Council a few months ago.
To avoid any conflicts, the tournament, which normally takes place in March and/or April, will be played in August during Olympic years. 2022 will be the first year affected by the change.
The lower divisions of the Women's World Championship have already been held during Olympic years since 2014, so this only affects the top tier.
There were also modifications regarding the IIHF World Ranking to take tournaments that were cancelled due to the pandemic into account.
