Belarus faces loss of World Cham­pi­onship

Authoritarian Belarus faces the loss of this year's IIHF World Championship. The IIHF's executive board meeting on 25 and 26 January is also set to address the hosting of the World Championship, which has recently been the subject of much discussion.

IIHF President Rene Fasel had previously told Russian news agency Tass about talks with representatives of other federations that could replace Belarus as co-host. The World Championship is scheduled to take place in Latvia and Belarus from 21 May to 6 June.

However, there are reservations about Minsk as a venue due to the Belarusian government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, political pressure on the IIHF is growing because peaceful demonstrations in Belarus are repeatedly being brutally suppressed by security forces.