Winter Olympics 2022 - Farcical scenes as players wear Covid masks in Canada v ROC ice hockey match

Updated 07/02/2022 at 09:42 GMT

There was nearly a one-hour delay in the ice hockey match between Canada and the Russian Olympic Committee after the ROC’s chief medical officer failed to provide Canada with clear Covid results. Canada refused to leave the changing rooms as confusion grew, but the game eventually got underway with all players in masks.

Bizarre scenes as Canada wear Covid masks during ROC match after Covid confusion

The ice hockey match between Canada and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was delayed for nearly an hour as late Covid tests threw the tie into doubt, with players eventually starting the match wearing masks.

Canada - who did not come out onto the ice - refused to play because ROC had not produced definitive Covid results.

The ROC team were warming up on the ice while Canada’s players were restricted to the changing rooms, waiting for ROC to produce negative results.

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Pure Olympics - Ice Hockey

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The situation - described as farcical - had viewers wondering why the ROC players were allowed out and on the ice if they had not produced negative tests.

Canada requested a one-hour delay to proceedings, and that the ROC wear masks, if and when play was to eventually get going. The ROC agreed to take the precautionary measure, but only if Canada did too.

News emerged that ROC’s chief medical officer hadn’t supplied Canada with the test results, and Canada would not play the game until they had confirmation of them.

Players of Canada celebrate scoring in a women's Group A ice hockey match against the ROC Team at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games

Image credit: Getty Images

After discussions between both teams and officials, a new start time was eventually confirmed and the teams emerged onto the ice wearing masks to warm up, nearly an hour after they were originally due to get underway.

ROC took their N95 masks off before the third quarter of the match, while Canada elected to keep theirs on.

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