IIHF awards 2023 World Cham­pi­onship to FIN and LAT

The Top Division Ice Hockey World Championship has now officially been reassigned for 2023. The title will be contested in Riga, Latvia, and Tampere, Finland, from 12 to 28 May, after Russia was stripped of hosting rights due to the conflict in Ukraine.

"We are delighted to be able to host the World Championship together with our ice hockey friends and colleagues from Finland," said Aigars Kalvitis, President of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Nokia-areena in Tampere will be the main arena during the World Championship; some matches at the current World Championship have already been and are being played in the newly built venue, which holds more than 13.000 people.

Arena Riga, which has room for around 9.000 fans, will host preliminary-round games as well as two quarter-finals. The two cities are 501 kilometres apart.

The joint bid from Latvia and Finland was the only bid to host the 2023 World Championship officially confirmed by the IIHF. Hungary and Slovenia had withdrawn their application. Having secured their place in the top division, Austria will also return for the 2023 World Championship. As announced by the IIHF, Switzerland will host the 2026 World Championship, with games taking place in Zurich and Fribourg from 15 to 31 May. In between, the World Championship will be held in Prague and Ostrava (2024) and in Stockholm and Herning (2025).

Overview of all host countries for the upcoming Top Division and junior World Championships