With the Olympics just ending, many people were watching ice hockey, both men’s and women’s. But when one looks deeper, it’s hard not to see the deep-rooted sexism.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) controls the men’s and women’s national levels of ice hockey. But their governing body is made up of 13 males and only two females. Not only do they control the Olympics, but the IIHF is also in charge of the World Junior Championships, which consist of a U20 men’s tournament, a U18 men’s tournament, and a U18 women’s tournament. It is a great opportunity for young players to represent their country and a gateway to the Olympics.

The 2022 women’s tournament was canceled this year due to COVID concerns, while the men’s continued to take place. The men’s event was eventually canceled, but only while the tournament was taking place because many teams had to forfeit due to COVID issues. Both tournaments have recently been rescheduled to this summer, but that does not negate the impact of the IIHF’s actions.

In 2021, the same events occurred, with the men’s tournament taking place while the women’s did not. The IIHF’s actions blatantly show their deep-rooted sexism and their constant prioritization of men over women.

The IIHF’s reasoning that the women’s tournament was canceled because of the pandemic makes complete sense, but not when the men’s tournament is not canceled, even though COVID affects men just as much as women. The virus does not discriminate, so why does the IIHF?

This is just another example of a long history of sexism in ice hockey. According to NBC sports, in the NHL equivalent for women, the NWHL, an average player makes $15,000 while an NHL player makes millions. The large wage gap is combined with unequal treatment of women’s hockey players on the national stage in comparison to the men. The women’s national team was forced to go on strike during the 2017 World Juniors to finally make a change towards equal treatment of the athletes.

Women work just as hard as men and devote just as much time. But they are constantly placed beneath the men by the IIHF. It is unfair to the many women that worked hard for their opportunity to represent their country. It is unfair to every female hockey player out there that constantly has to watch men being prioritized causing them to believe that their sport matters less just because of their gender.

The IIHF continuously shows their blatant sexism. It is time for the IIHF to start treating their athletes equally.