IIHF reiterates determination to hold men’s Ice Hockey Worlds in Belarus

The International Ice Hockey Federation has reiterated its determination to co-host the 2021 men’s Ice Hockey World Hockey Championship in Latvia and Belarus, in spite of political unrest in the latter country.

Latvia yesterday (Monday) announced it will call on the IIHF to find a new co-host for the event due to the ongoing turmoil in the Eastern European state, having held an extraordinary government meeting to discuss the matter.

The two countries are scheduled to co-host the IIHF event from May 21 to June 6 next year but the country’s Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš first questioned the arrangement in comments reported last week. Following the cabinet meeting, this position has now hardened.

“Let’s call on the IIHF to find another country instead of Belarus. If the federation refuses, and the situation in Belarus has not changed, the government could decide that Latvia does not participate in the 2021 hockey championship,” he said in comments reported by the Latvian media.

Belarus has faced days of political demonstrations following Alexander Lukashenko’s re-election as Belarusian President. Western monitors have disputed the results while there have been reports of a violent crackdown on protestors.

In response, Kariņš has instructed Latvia’s minister of education and science, Ilgas Šuplinskas, who is also charged with sporting matters, to negotiate a solution with the IIHF.

Latvian Public Media reported the country’s foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs as saying: “Our primary task is to start a conversation and discussion with the IIHF, and it will be done by the Ministry of Education and Science. It will not happen today or tomorrow – it must have some time frame. Our main goal is to do everything so that if the situation remains as it is, the championship would be transferred from Belarus to another country.”

He added: “We have a constant debate about whether politics should be confused with sport. We hear that these things should not be confused, forgetting that there are countries where regimes use sport for political purposes.”

However, when SportBusiness approached the IIHF for comment, it repeated its desire to continue with the present hosting arrangement.

The federation said in a statement: “The IIHF acknowledges the concerns outlined by the Latvian government. The main objective for the IIHF remains to play the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk and Riga, as voted on by the IIHF Council and the IIHF member national associations during the 2017 Annual Congress.

“At this time we await further communication from the Latvian government. There is no timetable for any decision to be taken regarding the 2021 World Championship. We will continue our work with the Minsk/Riga 2021 Organizing Committees and remain in close contact with the relevant stakeholders in both countries.”

The federation added that the IIHF Council will reconvene in mid-September to discuss the situation and would inform of any updates to the status of the tournament at that stage.

The Latvian Hockey Federation has transferred the rights to organise the 2021 event to its fully-owned subsidiary SIA “Hokeja Akadēmija” in 2019.

The head of the subsidiary, Edgars Buncis, told Latvijas Radio that the IIHF hosting agreement allows organisers to make changes to the tournament up until January 2021. But it also includes penalties for refusing to hold the event and stipulates that an individual host will incur additional expenses if one party refuses to host the championship.