By Danielle Jenkins

The Winter Olympics kick-off in 22 days, and the International Olympics committee (IOC) just keep running into more issues.

The main issue for the committee is their lack of preparation for the ice hockey games.

With less than a month until the Olympics, one of their biggest events still has no venue set, and now the National Hockey League (NHL) is threatening to pull their players. This is the first time in 12 years that NHL players will be involved in the Olympics but with arena issues, we may need to wait another 4 years before we see them.

If the NHL pulls out, many nations will have to also pull out. Countries such as the USA, Canada and Finland have teams which consist mostly of NHL players. This means that if no NHL players are allowed to play, none of the teams will be able to either.

An external view of the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena via Getty Images

This is a major issue as there is not a large pool of teams competing, and the USA and Canada are two of their biggest competitors and drawing in most of the fan excitement and attention.

Along with issues with completing the arena building, their ice rink is also a subject of discussion due to the issues with it. It has incorrect ice dimensions and an unfinished seating bowl; the scoreboard is also placed incorrectly.

The ice dimensions being off is a major safety concern as it is smaller than the NHL ice, despite Olympic ice usually being larger, this is the main reason why the NHL do not want their top players competing in the Olympics.

Now the arena may never be complete, as a major US sponsor has threatened to withdraw.

US internet company Cloudflare is threatening to pull its services in Italy, which will include the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. The threat from the CEO comes after the company was fined 14 million euros (around 12 million pounds), for ongoing violation of the anti-piracy law.

Pierre Durcrey, the Sports Director of the IOC via Getty Images

However, they are yet to pull out, and officials are set to meet with the IOC next week to discuss the issue.

Funding and unfinished buildings are not where the IOC’s issues end, as their sustainability claims are now being questioned.

The IOC claims that it has aims to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and that the games provide an important opportunity to talk about climate change, but many are doubting these claims as the IOC continues to welcome in fans from all over the world, who will no doubt double Milan’s carbon emissions.

The Winter Olympics is snowballing into failure