NOTE: As Greece does not have a functional regular-sized ice rink, the Official National Team has been removed from Official IIHF Competition (World Championships, Olympics and Qualifications) and will only return once a regular size rink opens and a Greek National Championship with at least 4 teams and 10 games per team is played in Greece.
So you want to play for the National Team of Greece that participates in Official IIHF World Championships?
Here’s how.
According to the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) the governing body of Ice Hockey Worldwide:
When a player has multiple citizenship (for example Greek-Canadian or Greek-American… etc) and he/she has never represented any country in any IIHF championship or an Olympic competition or in qualifications to these competitions, then in order to play for the country of his/her choice he/she must:
a) Hold a passport of the country they chose to represent. In this case a Greek Passport.
b) prove that he has participated at least two consecutive hockey seasons and 16 consecutive months (480 days) in the national competitions of his new country after his 10th birthday (In our case the Greek Ice Hockey League where games are played in Greece). Female players need to have participated on a consistent basis for at least one hockey season and have been member of the new national association for at least 8 consecutive months (240 days) during that period.
c) Is a resident in the country that he/she wishes to represent (lives in Greece) during which period he/she has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country and
d) if the country of his choice is one to which the player has transferred (example, from Canada to Greece) then he/she must have had an IIHF international transfer card approved and dated by the IIHF at least two years prior to his proposed participation.
After following the above a player would be eligible to play for the Official National Team of Greece
NOTE: If the ineligibility of one or more players is proved during a championship then the games played by the team with an ineligible player shall be forfeited and the ineligible player dismissed from the tournament. If the ineligibility is proved after the championship and before the following Semi- Annual Congress, the team with the ineligible player shall be disqualified.
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When once a player has represented a country in any IIHF championship, or in the Olympic competition or in the qualification to these competitions (example, Played for Team Canada (at any age) and now wants to play for Team Greece):
Then, all the above apply except that he/she has:
a) an international transfer card that was approved and dated by the IIHF at least four years before the start of the IIHF competition in which he/she wishes to participate,
b) he/she has participated for at least four consecutive years in the national competitions of his new country during which period he/she has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country.
After following the above a player would be eligible to play for the Official National Team of Greece
NOTE: If the ineligibility of one or more players is proved during a championship then the games played by the team with an ineligible player shall be forfeited and the ineligible player dismissed from the tournament. If the ineligibility is proved after the championship and before the following Semi- Annual Congress, the team with the ineligible player shall be disqualified.
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