Czech Ice Hockey officials send letter to IIHF informing them of name change

In a letter sent to the International Ice Hockey Federation, Czech Ice Hockey Association President Tomas Kral informed them that going forward, their national teams will be using the name "Czechia" rather than "Czech Republic".

The letter read as follows, "We would like to inform you that, based on the decision by the Executive Committee of the Czech Ice Hockey Association, as of November 2021 our National Teams will use the one-word name "Cesko" on their jerseys instead of the Czech Republic, as is currently used. This change concerns all men's, women's, youth and para ice hockey teams except for the Olympic and Paralympic tournaments.

This move means we join the great majority of IIHF members who use a short geographical name instead of a multi-word political designation that also specifies the country's political form (Sweden instead of Kingdom of Sweden, Russia instead of Russian Federation, Germany instead of Federal Republic of Germany).

The official name of "Cesko", including the English equivalent Czechia and other language versions, was approved by our government in 1993 and it is also listed as fully official in UN databases.

"Therefore, dear friends and colleagues, we would like to ask you to use the name "Czechia", or its equivalent in your national language, on video cubes, tables, statistics, and other materials for any Czech National Hockey Team, whenever our teams meet."

In a tweet on Monday, TSN commentator Gord Miller said, 'A note for the upcoming #WorldJuniors and all @IIHFHockey events, the Czech Federation has officially requested that it be referred to as 'Czechia' (pronounced 'CHEK-ee-ah' in English) in all competitions, as opposed to 'Czech Republic'. The plural/possessive is still 'Czechs'."

Czechia will play their first game of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship on Sunday, December 26th against the hosts, Canada.

A note for the upcoming #WorldJuniors and all @IIHFHockey events, the Czech Federation has officially requested that it be referred to as «Czechia» (pronounced «CHEK-ee-ah» in English) in all competitions, as opposed to «Czech Republic». The plural/possessive is still «Czechs». pic.twitter.com/48Ulfu8iSL— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) December 20, 2021

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