The Belarusian Hockey Federation (FHRB) and the Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) continue to prepare for the joint organization of the 2021 World Championship, stressed the Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko on Friday.
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As reported, in mid-August, the Latvian government decided that Latvia would start negotiations with the IIHF on hosting the World Hockey Championship in another country in Belarus in 2021.
As Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) explained at that time, Latvia wants to host the 2021 World Championships in Riga, however, taking into account the situation in Belarus, the Prime Minister does not see the possibility that Latvia could host this championship together with Belarus.
“Let ‘s call on the IIHF to find another country instead of Belarus [IIHF] the situation in Belarus will still not change, the government could decide that Latvia will not participate in the organization of the 2021 hockey championship, “Kariņš emphasized.
On Friday, the meeting of the organizing committee of the World Cup took place at the Belarusian Government House, where five issues were discussed – implementation of the preparation plan, ticket program, preparation of the Minsk Arena, establishment of a fan village and the concept of the opening ceremony.
“The Prime Minister of Latvia has announced that Latvia intends to take the initiative to replace Belarus with another country in the championship. This statement sounds strange, especially considering that the hockey federations of both countries continue to interact productively and effectively in cooperation with the IIHF,” website quoted Golovchenko.
Acting President of the FHRB Dmitrijs Baskovs noted that Belarus has a contractual obligation with the Latvian organizing committee to host the championship, but if the Latvian side refuses to organize a joint championship for some reason, the Belarusians will have enough resources and infrastructure to do it themselves.
According to the official results of the presidential election in Belarus on August 9, the current head of state Alexander Lukashenko won 80.1% of the vote, while opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovska won 10.1%, but the opposition believes the election results are fake and Tikhanovska has won the election.
Protests against electoral fraud and President Lukashenko, who have often escalated into protests in clashes with security forces, have continued in the capital, Minsk, since 9 August. During the protests, several thousand people were detained and several hundred were injured. Workers in many companies have gone on strike.
The 2021 World Championships, which will take place from May 21 to June 6, are organized by Minsk together with Riga, beating the Finnish cities of Helsinki and Tampere in a fierce battle in May 2017. 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.
In 2022, the tournament should be hosted by Finland (Helsinki and Tampere), in 2023 by Russia (St. Petersburg), in 2024 by the Czech Republic (Prague and Ostrava), and in 2025 by Sweden and Denmark.
The Minsk World Cup was 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 has hosted the World Championships for the only time so far in 2006.
