The Council of the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) on Thursday decided to form a group of experts to assess the safety of the 2021 World Championships in Riga and Minsk, because they do not think that political reasons are enough to transfer the World Hockey Championship to another country, the IIHF website reported.
Following the unrest in Belarus, the Latvian government, led by Krišjānis Kariņš (JV), informed the IIHF of its unwillingness to hold the championship with Belarus in such circumstances, and asked the IIHF to find another country instead of Belarus where part of the championship could take place.
On Thursday in Zurich, the IIHF Council discussed the issues submitted by the Latvian government regarding the status of the 2021 IIHF World Hockey Championship, which is planned to be held in Minsk and Riga.
“This is the first time that the government of the host country, for political reasons, does not want to host the tournament with another host country,” said IIHF President René Fassel. “The IIHF is deeply concerned about the recent events in Minsk, but as a sports federation the IIHF is not a political entity and for political reasons cannot transfer the tournament to another country,” he said.
“However, the IIHF is responsible for ensuring that each tournament host country can guarantee the health and safety of players, officials and spectators,” the statement said.
To this end, the IIHF Council will establish a panel of experts to conduct a full assessment of the status of the competition and to consult with relevant experts in the financial, medical, event, marketing, sports, legal and administrative fields of the World Cup. The experts will have to assess the situation of the 2021 World Hockey Championship and present it to the IIHF Council at its next meeting in November.
“This is an extraordinary season. Today we have had to cancel several tournaments because of Covid-19,” said Fegel. “There are many factors that will affect our ability to host the World Cup, and we need time to take a comprehensive approach and explore how this tournament can be held safely,” he stressed.
“The panel will review all possible risks to the ability of Minsk and Riga to act as tournament organizers,” said IIHF Secretary General Horst Lihtner, adding that they would be tasked with making recommendations on how best to host the World Cup.
LETA has already reported that the IIHF does not yet plan to relocate 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 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 against 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.
