No Choice But to Follow IOC Decision: Japan Ice Hockey Official

January 21, 2018

Tokyo- An official of the Japan Ice Hockey Federation has said that the Japanese side has no alternative but to follow the International Olympic Committee's approval for the formation of a joint women's ice hockey team by North and South Korea in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games in South Korea next month.

"This is something we can't control. We have no choice but to follow the (IOC) decision," Takayuki Hattanda, chief of the federation's headquarters tasked to strengthen Japan's ice hockey teams, said Saturday. "We have various thoughts, but we can't put them into words."

In a meeting Saturday at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, with the Olympic committees of the two Koreas and the Pyeongchang Olympics organizing committee, the IOC made a formal decision on North Korea's participation in the games and gave its go-ahead to the joint ice hockey team.

In women's ice hockey in the Olympics, Japan is set to meet with the inter-Korean team for its final match in the qualifying round on Feb. 14. Jiji Press