Rene Fezel, President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), has reaffirmed his desire to hold the 2021 World Championships in Minsk and Riga for the Belarusian Hockey Federation (FHB), the FHB reports.
Following the violent repression of protests in Belarus, the Latvian government led by Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) informed the IIHF in early September of its unwillingness to hold the championship with Belarus in such circumstances, and asked the IIHF to find another country in Belarus to host part of the championship.
On Wednesday, FHB President Dmitry Baskov participated in a video conference with Fezel, who has repeatedly expressed his desire to hold championships in Minsk and Riga.
“We had a constructive conversation with the IIHF. Fuselage once again confirmed the IIHF’s desire to hold the championship in Minsk and Riga next spring. We discussed a number of issues related to the application of epidemiological measures to participants and guests. In any case, we are ready to hold the championship under any circumstances. Latvian partners, “FHB quotes Baskov as saying.
LETA has already reported that the IIHF does not yet plan to move the 2021 World Cup to another venue and does not want to make any political statements.
The 2021 World Championship is organized by Minsk together with Riga. 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.
Riga and Minsk defeated the Finnish cities of Helsinki and Tampere in a fierce battle in the May 2017 IIHF Congress. Group tournaments and two quarterfinals will take place in Riga and Minsk, while the semifinals and the finals will be held in the capital of Belarus.
Riga has hosted the World Championships for the only time so far in 2006, while the tournament in Minsk took place in 2014.
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