Minsk and Riga have to host the 2021 World Championship next year, but the Latvian government does not want to hold a tournament with Belarus for political reasons. At a meeting of the Council of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on Wednesday, a decision is likely to be made as to whether Minsk will continue to be one of the hosts of the championship.
At present, only “Arena Riga” in Latvia corresponds to the World Championship games, but at the end of October Edgars Buncis, the manager of the championship organizer SIA “Hokeja akadēmija”, assured LETA that if necessary, another hall could be built in about four months.
Buncis refused to mention the potential location of the hall, but “Sports Studio” reports that an ice rink could be installed at the “Elektrum” Olympic Sports Center. In 2006, when Riga hosted the world championship for the first time, the games took place in “Arena Riga” and on the ice rink, which was installed in “Skonto” hall.
The show also reports that organizing games for the Latvian group costs about eight million euros, but organizing the entire championship would cost another five million euros. 90% of the currently planned cost of eight million euros in Latvia would be covered by income from ticket sales, but it is not yet known whether spectators will be able to attend the championship.
The Latvian government has committed 1.3 million euros and, according to unofficial estimates, another million euros could be added. The rest of the money should go to tickets.
As reported, the Belarusian sports portal “Tribuna” reported over the weekend that the chairman of the Belarusian Hockey Federation (FHB) Dmitry Baskov was present in the attack, after which opposition activist Raman Bandarenka died at the hospital. On Monday, Baskov and world boxing champion in kickboxing and Dmitry Shakuta, who is suspected of initiating the attack, were included in the list of undesirable persons for Latvia.
Demonstrations against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime have killed at least four people since August, and the EU condemned Bandarenko’s death on Friday and warned Minsk of new sanctions.
The 2021 World Championship is organized by Minsk together with Riga, but the games of the decisive phase of the tournament are planned in the capital of Belarus. The Minsk World Championships were also hosted in 2014, and at that time the European Parliament called on the IIHF to prevent Belarus from hosting the championship, citing the authorities’ repression of the opposition.
It is planned to host the tournament in 2022 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.
Riga has hosted the World Championships for the only time so far in 2006.
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