🔗 Share this article

Put aside poor conditions. For now, there’s no ice.

With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a ten years, building work on the main hockey venue for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been moved to a smaller arena – and that no additional trial has been arranged yet.

The issue raises the prospect that there may not be a match held in the primary venue until the competition begins for the women’s preliminary round at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“It’s going to be very close to the start of the games, the timeline is very tight. But we knew that,” Milano Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The competition that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was part of the under-20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been transferred to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on Milan’s outskirts and will stage secondary matches during the Olympics.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are trialled at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey venue, it’s not just about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is ready and safe. It’s also about checking food outlets, bathrooms and everything else inside a brand-new modern arena.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a commercial firm, is scheduled to become Italy’s largest indoor arena. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential upcoming venue of the ATP Finals tennis tournament.

In spite of the delays and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being sold for events at the Santagiulia venue. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the closing day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (more than $1,600). This exceeds for any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The comeback of NHL players at the Olympics was revealed last February, with the world’s top hockey organization permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.

The men’s Olympic hockey competition is set to take place from 11-22 February. Women's event occurs from 5-19 February.