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Spengler Cup tournament called off again due to Covid

Ice hockey pucks in snow
The Spengler Cup has been called off for the second consecutive year because of Covid Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi

The traditional international ice-hockey tournament in the Swiss resort of Davos has been cancelled at short notice.

The organisersExternal link said on Saturday that most players of the host team Davos had tested positive for Covid-19 and as a result, the cantonal health authorities withdrew the public licence for the event.

The tournament was due to open on Sunday with teams from Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and two Swiss clubs. A squad with Canadian players in Europe pulled out earlier in the week.

It is the second time in a row that the event had to be called off due to the pandemic.

The traditional tournament, which was first held in 1923 in the Swiss mountain resort, takes place between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve.

The Spengler Cup is the latest major public event to be affected by the Covid pandemic and the latest surge in infections.

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to open in Davos on January 17 was also called off.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR