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International Hockey Federation (IIHF) could move the planned part of next year’s World Cup in Minsk to the Russian capital, Moscow, reports Ryan Hennedy, a journalist for The Hockey News.
Big News: the IIHF will be moving the World Championship from Belarus to Moscow. Rene Fasel is heading to Russia to meet with Tretiak on the matter. Co-host Latvia will keep its games.
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) November 19, 2020
According to the journalist, the President of the IIHF Rene Fezel is going to Russia to meet with the President of the Russian Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretyak on this issue. Kennedy also writes that Latvia will keep its games.
Minsk and Riga must host the 2021 World Cup next year, but the Latvian government does not want to hold a tournament with Belarus because its self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko, is using repression against peaceful protesters.
The position of the Latvian government was unchanged, which was reaffirmed by Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) in a video conference with the IIHF last week. According to Kariņš, in the conversation he reiterated the reasons why he considers that holding the championship in Belarus is not possible, and stressed that he is waiting for a responsible decision of the IIHF. After receiving the relevant decision, the Latvian government decides on further action.
For the needs of the World Championship, a hall with two ice rinks is being built at the “Daugava” stadium, which is necessary for hockey players to practice during the championship.
Riga and Minsk defeated the Finnish cities of Helsinki and Tampere in a fierce battle in May 2017. It is planned that group tournaments and two quarterfinals will take place in Riga and Minsk, but the semifinals and the finals will be held in the capital of Belarus.
In May, the IIHF decided that Latvia, Canada, Finland, the USA, Germany, Norway, Italy and Kazakhstan would play in Group B in Riga, while Belarus, Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark and Great Britain would fight in Group A.
The 2021 World Championship is scheduled for May 21 to June 6. It was previously planned that the championship would start on May 7, but it was postponed a couple of weeks ahead because the national championships in Europe could be delayed.
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