The decision to hold the Ice Hockey World Championship 2021 in Riga, taken by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), even though it dotted the i's on the host of the upcoming forum, but at the same time gave rise to a lot of new topics for discussion.
Among the main ones are the format of the event and the conditions in which it will take place.
Due to the difficult epidemiological situation in the world, the competition will most likely be held with empty stands.
"This will be a championship without spectators, epidemiologically safe, it will be held in a bubble in which players and other people will be completely separated from the rest of society," TASS quotes Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins.
Later, this information was confirmed by the head of the sports department of the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia Edgars Severs.
He spoke about the living conditions of participants and guests in the bubble.
“Athletes, service and technical staff, as well as media representatives will be tested not only before arriving in Latvia, but also after.
They will live in a “bubble” format, they will be regularly tested, they will only move from the hotel to the specific venue of the competition and will not go anywhere else - on the streets or in society, ”Severs said.
It is also known that the participants and employees of the 2021 World Cup are planned to be accommodated in the same hotel, not far from the meeting places.
“Testing for COVID-19 will begin ten days before the teams arrive in Latvia.
We came up with such a solution so that the teams would arrive here on time and conduct trial games.
There is a high probability that the teams will come here already from 6 to 10 May to hold friendly games, "said Edgars Buntsis, head of the Hockey Academy company, which organizes the 2021 World Cup.
Nevertheless, there are still hopes that the tournament will be held in the presence of spectators.
In any case, the general secretary of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation Viesturs Koziols expressed this opinion.
According to him, the final verdict will be passed no earlier than a month and a half before the start of the championship.
“This can be only if the situation improves, and we can find out not earlier than April, I think.
Therefore, we are preparing for several options - a "bubble", matches in the presence of 20%, 50% of spectators, and so on, subject to unconditional distancing in the stands.
Therefore, there is such a plan, and we will present it in the next month, but no one in the world will be able to say now how the situation will develop further - today it is only February 3.
Still, the most important thing is to ensure the holding of the World Championship, ”Koziols said.
On the eve, the President of the IIHF, Rene Fasel, made a similar statement.
According to the head of the international federation, if the situation with the pandemic normalizes, fans will be able to attend hockey matches in Riga, but it should not be ruled out that everything could go according to an unfavorable scenario.
Initially, the leadership of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considered the option of holding the 2021 World Championship in two countries.
Denmark or Slovakia could host the matches together with Latvia, but in the end it was decided to stop at one country.
As Fasel explained, in this case, there remains an opportunity both to arrange a championship in a bubble format and with the audience.
“COVID-19, of course, was the main reason we settled on one country.
It was a big challenge for us, but due to the coronavirus situation, we had no choice but to play in Latvia.
In Bratislava, it was impossible to host all 16 teams - there is only one arena where you can play.
We also discussed the financial aspect, from this point of view, it is also most beneficial for us to play in Latvia, ”said the head of IIHF.
As it became known, the change in the venue of the World Cup turned out to be associated with additional costs.
According to the Minister of Education and Science of Latvia, Ilga Shuplinska, their amount will be € 14-15 million. If you believe Karins, the IIHF will cover most of them, but the country itself also intends to take care of allocating additional funds from the budget.
Thus, the transfer of the championship of the planet promises to cost a round sum of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
In addition to the additional costs of holding the tournament in Latvia, she is obliged to pay compensation to Belarus for the deprivation of its organizer status.
Fazel noted that at the moment the details are being discussed, but at the same time he said about the need to “support Belarusian hockey”.
It should be noted that the Ice Hockey Federation of Belarus does not intend to boycott the World Cup 2021 due to the deprivation of the country's status as the host of the tournament.
The organization assured that the team will go to Latvia, despite the recent events.
“As we said earlier, we are preparing to compete at the World Championships.
Our opinion is that the national team should play in the championship in Latvia, ”RIA Novosti was told in the press service of the FHB.
As for the tournament, most of it will be held at the Arena Riga, which has a capacity of 10.3 thousand seats.
It will host all matches in Group B, which includes Canada, Finland, USA, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Italy and Kazakhstan, two quarterfinals, semi-finals, bronze and gold matches.
The Russian national team will play their group matches on the ice of the Olympic Sports Center.
The trainings will take place in the Daugava ice hall, the construction of which is planned to be completed by the end of March.
The patriotic squad will be in octet with Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Great Britain and Belarus, and the championship itself will be held from May 21 to June 6.
Nevertheless, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation believes that the issue of the composition of the groups will be considered at the next IIHF meetings.
“We are not playing at the Arena Riga.
(At the IIHF Council -
RT
) the question was raised whether the same groups will be there or not.
But there are three months left, there are contracts with television.
There are many questions we will discuss.
The President (IIHF Rene Fasel -
RT
) said that while everything remains as it is, because if everything is changed now, there will be difficulties.
But there are still moments for discussion, ”said the head of the FHR Vladislav Tretyak.
Among other things, the upcoming tournament will be the first since 2018 in which the Russian ice hockey team will play in a neutral status.
According to the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), domestic athletes will not be able to use the flag and anthem at major international competitions for two years - until December 16, 2022.
The last time domestic hockey players were in this status at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, where they won gold medals.
“Unfortunately, the Russian national team will not be able to hear their anthem at the upcoming world championship in Latvia.
This is the WADA decision, we must obey this decision.
As for the possible use of "Katyusha" instead of the anthem, my opinion is, why not.
It's a good choice, ”said Fasel.