The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has imposed sanctions on Belarus, suspending President Alexander Lukashenko from Olympic activities, including at the Tokyo Olympics next year.
Mr Lukashenko, who has chaired the Belarusian Olympic Committee (NOK RB) for 23 years, was declared the winner of the presidential election in Belarus in August, which the opposition claims were falsified.
There were widespread protests in the country, but the European Union does not recognize his election.
In accepting the disqualification, the IOC concluded that “the current leadership of the NOK RB has not adequately protected the interests of Belarusian athletes against political discrimination within the NOK RB, in their sports federations or in the sports movement”.
Temporary disqualification was also applied to Lukashenko’s son Viktor and other members of the NOK RB board.
While the IOC has stopped providing financial support to NOK RB, it will continue to pay athletes directly in preparation for the Tokyo Games and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Also, within the framework of IOC sanctions, the status of Belarus as a co-organizer of the 2021 World Hockey Championship could be endangered.
The International Hockey Federation (IIHF) has stated that the organization does not want to make political decisions, but the IIHF wants to hold the World Cup in a country that can guarantee a safe environment.
Minsk and Riga have to host the 2021 World Cup next year, but the Latvian government does not want to hold a tournament with Belarus because its regime, the authoritarian leader Lukashenko, is using repression against peaceful protesters.
Riga and Minsk beat the Finnish cities of Helsinki and Tampere in a fierce battle in May 2017. It is planned that group tournaments and two quarterfinals will take place in Riga and Minsk, but the semifinals and the finals will be held in the capital of Belarus.
In May, the IIHF decided that Latvia, Canada, Finland, the USA, Germany, Norway, Italy and Kazakhstan would play in Group B in Riga, while Belarus, Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark and Great Britain would fight in Group A.
The Minsk World Cup was also hosted in 2014, and already at that time the European Parliament called on the IIHF to prevent Belarus from hosting the championship, citing the authorities’ repression of the opposition.
In 2022 it is planned to host the tournament for Finland (Helsinki and Tampere), in 2023 – for Russia (St. Petersburg), in 2024 for the Czech Republic (Prague and Ostrava), and in 2025 – for Sweden and Denmark.
The 2021 World Championship is scheduled for May 21 to June 6. It was previously planned that the championship would start on May 7, but it was postponed a couple of weeks ahead because the national championships in Europe could be delayed.
Riga has hosted the World Championships for the only time so far in 2006.
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