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“We had a very positive meeting today. We are honored that Prime Minister Kariņš participated in it, and we are grateful for his opinion in connection with the 2021 championship,” says Fegel.
During the conversation, Kariņš has repeatedly assured Fāzel that he supports the efforts of the Latvian Hockey Federation to host the 2021 World Championship in Riga. During the meeting, Fozel emphasized that the IIHF is working outside political interests and is trying to do everything possible to make the tournament in the two countries that were voted on by the IIHF Congress. However, Kariņš pointed out that the priority is to ensure safe conditions for all involved, with the consent of Fassel.
IIHF management and Kariņš have expressed concern about the impact of Covid-19 on the international sporting event. The biggest challenge is the uncertainty among the organizers about the possibilities to let fans into the games, mentions IIHF.
At the end of the conversation, Kariņš emphasized that the Latvian government would respect the decision of the IIHF Council regarding the world championship.
“We mainly discussed the organizers’ ability to ensure a safe world championship, which is a particular challenge during the second wave of Covid-19,” explains the IIHF president. “There is no pressure to make decisions about the tournament immediately, and we need to continue to analyze the situation in both countries.”
“Such things take time. In the next stage of the process, we will present a safety analysis to the IIHF Board and determine the next steps needed to make sure the World Cup is safe,” says Fegel.
Before the IIHF council meeting, Fazi is scheduled to meet with the Ambassador of Belarus to Switzerland next week.
It has already been reported that the IIHF Council plans to take a decision on the organization of the World Championship in Minsk on November 18. In September, it set up a group of experts with the mandate to develop an analysis of the situation in Belarus and present it to the IIHF Council.
Representatives of the international organization have previously emphasized that its statutes and regulations state that The IIHF cannot be discriminated against on the basis of political commitment. It is significant that the statement published in IIHF in Minsk does not directly mention the protests, but the second wave of Covid-19 is mentioned as an obstacle to organizing the competition, without directly referring to Latvia or Belarus.
Due to the precarious political situation in Belarus, the Latvian government requested that the right to organize the IIHF be granted to another country.
Kariņš has already said that Latvia wants to hold a world championship in Riga, however does not see the possibility of doing so together with Belarus. His opinion was supported by Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, who expressed the determination to do everything possible to transfer the championship from Belarus to another country if the political situation in the country does not change.
Rinkevich on the situation was later exacerbated, stressing that Belarus can use the tournament as a political tool while its government takes physical action against protesters.
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