NHL players will not attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the league announced on Wednesday.

The league said the decision was made due to the disruption in the regular-season schedule as a result of the rising number of COVID-19 cases throughout the league.

“Given the profound disruption to the NHL’s regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events — 50 games already have been postponed through Dec. 23 — Olympic participation is no longer feasible,” commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

The league currently has more than 15 per cent of its players in virus protocol, which means they are sidelined from playing due to