Thanks to the ongoing uptick in COVID-19 cases, the IIHF has cancelled all events that were scheduled for next month, including the U18 Women's World Championship.

This means that the following tournaments have been cancelled: 

2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 Men’s World Championship Division II Group B
10-15 January 2022, Belgrade, Serbia
 
2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 Men’s World Championship Division II
8-15 January 2022 - Queretaro, Mexico
 
2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship
8-15 January 2022 - Linkoping & Mjolby, Sweden

2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group A
9-15 January 2022 - Gyor, Hungary

2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B
10-15 January 2022 - Radenthein, Austria

2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division II
21-27 January 2022 - Istanbul, Turkey

They released the following statement: 

“These are hard facts to have to face, and as with last year we must take the difficult decision to cancel men’s and women’s IIHF events, including the women’s U18 top division now for the second year in a row,” said IIHF President Luc Tardif.
 
“It is the consensus of the IIHF Medical Committee that the organizers would not have the capability to manage an outbreak of the virus, especially with the rapid transfer of the Omicron variant that we have seen in the NHL and other leagues.”

“The Swedish Ice Hockey Association, together with the organizing cities Linköping and Mjölby and Östergötland's ice hockey association, have looked forward to arranging the championship at home,” says Anders Larsson, chairperson of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and chairperson of the executive committee for the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship.

“The U18 Women’s World Championship is an important part of strengthening and building ice hockey on the girls' and women's side, but with that said, we have great respect and understanding for the decision based on the pandemic situation in the world.”