After the Belarusian flag was replaced among the flags of the World Cup participating countries in some parts of Riga, the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF protested.
It was believed that according to the union's statutes, it was apolitical, and the IIHF asked to have the union flag hoisted.
Inside the ice rinks, the Belarusian flags remain.
It was after a plane on its way to Lithuania was forced down into Belarus, so that the Belarusian regime critic Roman Pratasevich could be arrested, that leading politicians in Latvia acted.
Belarus was originally a co-organizer of the Ice Hockey World Cup, but after strong international pressure on the IIHF, the entire World Cup was moved to Riga.
CLIP: Why the Belarus flag was hoisted in the World Cup city (May 25):
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The flag fight: Therefore, the flag of Belarus was hoisted in the World Cup city