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Forget about poor conditions. Currently, there’s no ice.

With NHL athletes preparing to make a comeback to the Olympic Games for the first time in over a decade, building work on the main hockey arena for the Milano Cortina Games is cutting it close.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the primary trial competition for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact venue – and that no additional trial has been scheduled yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there might not be a game held in the main arena 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 extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the timeline is highly compressed. But we knew that,” Milan-Cortina organizing body CEO Andrea Varnier said in a recent update.

The event that was supposed to evaluate the Santagiulia ice was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. This tournament has been moved to the Rho Fiera hockey venue, which is being established inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host secondary matches during the games.

Usually, freshly built Olympic facilities are tested at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a sizable hockey arena, it’s not only about the playing surface and making sure that the rink is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about checking food outlets, bathrooms and all other amenities inside a newly constructed modern arena.

This new facility, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become Italy’s biggest covered stadium. Following the Olympics, it’s being considered as a potential future host of the ATP Tour Finals tennis tournament.

Despite the delays and concerns, high-priced passes are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Tickets for the men’s gold medal final on 22 February – the final day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other sports event at the Milan-Cortina Games. Solely tickets for the inaugural and final events cost more.

The comeback of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced in February of last year, with the world’s top hockey league permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. The women’s event occurs from 5-19 February.