On Monday, the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF's President René Fasel and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko met to talk about the Ice Hockey World Cup.
The meeting did not result in any announcements, and most talked about was instead a hug between the president and the chairman.
- It is completely unacceptable and a shame that the IIHF continues to legitimize the Belarusian regime, as through today's loving meeting, said Karin Karlsbro (L), Vice-President of the European Parliament delegation to Belarus.
Anders Larsson, chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, has seen the aforementioned hug and says this to SVT Sport:
- That hug and the whole meeting got a lot of attention.
My inbox received quite a few new messages from different people who responded.
For me and for Swedish hockey, the most important thing is what happened inside the meeting room.
What does René Fasel bring back to the international board and what information do we get from participating nations?
We expect a message in the near future.
KLIPP: "There will be no political danger in Belarus"
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Lukashenko: "There will be no political danger in Belarus" Photo: Hanna Liubakova Twitter / TT News Agency
Do not want to review the hug
So far, Anders Larsson has not received any information about what conclusions were drawn at the meeting.
- What we know and feel safe with is that René Fasel together with his board colleagues in IIHF work intensively on this issue.
Yesterday's meeting is a sign of that.
What do you think it sends for signals that Fasel and Lukashenko are hugging?
- That hug has really attracted a lot of attention and frustration both in hockey Sweden and in the rest of the world.
It is incredibly important that we as sports representatives are careful in which contexts we behave and how we behave.
Yesterday's meeting was important from a hockey perspective where we now hope for information.
But what do you personally think the hug sends for signals?
- I refrain from reviewing different ways of greeting in my role and so on, but I focus more on the content and conclusions from this meeting.
This has been a long work with an external expert group that for a long time worked with this in the autumn and reported to us member nations and had discussions with the countries' presidents.
It is a whole that needs to be reported to us.
Sweden does not want to take over the World Cup
Is your opinion changing regarding an ice hockey World Cup in Belarus?
- Our position from Sweden's side is very clear regarding the current situation, both what we have talked about in internal meetings and externally.
As the situation is right now in Belarus linked to health and safety, we believe that it is not possible to play a World Cup there.
What are the options if there is not a World Cup in Belarus?
- The situation we are in is very complex.
Partly based on the situation in Belarus, partly based on the ongoing pademi.
It is also not very easy to move a World Cup four months before relegation.
There are financial aspects and insurance solutions to consider.
So it is a delicate task that René Fasel and the IIHF have on their table.
The hope is that we will receive very clear information before the end of the month.
Would Sweden be interested in taking over the World Cup if you were asked?
- From the Swedish side, there is no such interest for the reason that what the organizer is very much about sales and audience revenue.
There is a great deal of uncertainty associated with the pandemic and everything indicates that it will be very difficult to have an audience at a World Cup in Sweden in that case.
CLIP: 90 percent of Belarusians want to move hockey World Cup (December 1, 2020)
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90 percent of Belarusians want to move the hockey World Cup