Beijing 2022: IIHF’s Aivaz Omorkanov aims to clean up Asian ice hockey and lift fortunes of underachieving regional teams
- The youngest vice-president ever elected to the IIHF has his work cut out for him with Asian teams considered the paupers of global ice hockey
- Gregory Smyth, who runs Hong Kong’s largest ice hockey organisation, the China Hockey Group, says he is excited to work with the new IIHF boss for the region
Aivaz Omorkanov roared into the International Ice Hockey Federation in September on the back of a fiery speech in which he quoted Martin Luther King Jnr and talked about completely overhauling the sport in Asia and Oceania.
The youngest vice-president ever elected to the IIHF, Omorkanov, 25, who hails from Kyrgyzstan and played for his country’s national team, finds himself thrust into the limelight at a supercharged point in time with a number of underachieving associations falling under his watch.
Omorkanov ousted former Asia and Oceania vice-president Thomas Wu, who is from Hong Kong and held the position from 2012 until 2021. His speech directly attacked Wu’s alleged lack of progress in the region, with Omorkanov saying: “The list of shortcomings and the chances missed over the past number of years is extremely high”. Wu, in a written response to the Post, declined to comment on Omorkanov’s remark.
Omorkanov wants to raise the bar high with an ambitious plan in his first 100 days which involves auditing all the member associations.
Hong Kong is likely to be part of his clean-up. The local scene has been plagued by infighting between the community and the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association.
