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🇸🇪 Sweden /Sports

Ice hockey wants to follow basketball with a 3x3 Olympic tournament

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • The International Ice Hockey Federation is developing a three-on-three format modeled partly on basketball’s successful 3x3 game.
  • The format debuted at the 2020 Youth Olympics, and the first major international national-team tournament, the 3ICE World Cup, took place in Belfast in July.
  • Sweden is not actively planning to introduce 3x3 hockey soon, although Lundberg says it could help smaller hockey nations develop the sport.

Basketball’s 3x3 success has encouraged ice hockey to consider a similar format, but Sweden’s national team director Anders Lundberg says the sport remains a long way from an Olympic breakthrough.

“You should never say never, but it is a long way off,” Lundberg says. Swedish hockey is not currently working to introduce the format, he adds, and there are no plans to put it on the domestic program in the near future.

You should never say never, but it is a long way off.

· Anders LundbergSweden’s national team director assessed the prospects of 3x3 hockey reaching the Olympics.

The International Ice Hockey Federation first proposed bringing 3x3 hockey into the sport several years ago. The format features three outfield players on each team and is intended to complement traditional hockey. Florian Mayer, the IIHF official responsible for 3x3, says it can be played throughout the year, with fewer players needed to organize teams and competitions.

We have seen that 3x3 has achieved great success in other sports. We see it as a complement to traditional hockey, a format that can be played 365 days a year.

· Florian MayerThe IIHF official responsible for 3x3 explained the format’s intended role in hockey.

The IIHF introduced the format at the 2020 Youth Olympics. In July, Belfast hosted the 3ICE World Cup, the first major international tournament involving national teams, and plans now call for further expansion. Mayer also presents 3x3 as another route into the sport for young players who may not reach the professional level in traditional hockey.

Basketball has had a much longer head start. The International Basketball Federation began developing its 3x3 format in 2007, and it reached Sweden in 2013. Mikael Lindquist of the Swedish Basketball Federation says the format makes it easier to bring the sport into public spaces and attract sponsors because people can encounter games on the street rather than only inside a sports hall. Lundberg says the idea is appealing, especially for smaller hockey nations looking for ways to develop the game.

With 3x3, we can reach society more easily, and sponsors too. Cities are keen for us to come because they know it creates such a buzz.

· Mikael LindquistThe Swedish Basketball Federation official described the public and commercial appeal of 3x3 basketball.
About this summary

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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