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The 2021 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships will be the 85th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams will participate in several levels of competition. The competition will also serve as qualifications for division placements in the 2022 competition.
After all events were cancelled in 2020, the teams stayed pat in their respective divisions. Singapore was scheduled to be the newest national team to participate and has been assigned to Division IV. On 18 November 2020, the IIHF announced that they had cancelled the tournaments for Divisions I, II, III and IV due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Controversy
In early January 2021 then president of IIHF, René Fasel met with the Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, to discuss the proposed World Championships to take place in Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia from 21 May to 6 June 2021. Lukashenko, who is a known ice hockey enthusiast, is not recognised as the legitimate president of Belarus by the European Union nor by the governments of the United States, United Kingdom or Canada. Along with a number of Belarusian government officials, he faces sanctions because of human rights abuses and Lukashenko has been banned by the International Olympic Committee from attending Olympic Games on behalf of Belarus.
Despite recognising the controversy therein, René Fasel, is quoted as affirming his support for Lukashenko by saying "We will do everything possible for the world championship to take place in Minsk. We will make every effort.” The protests that started after the fraudulent 2020 Presidential elections in Belarus are still ongoing. The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation has criticised the IIHF for still intending to host the tournament in Belarus, among them is professional basketball player Yelena Leuchanka who has twice been imprisoned for protesting. Fasel was hugged by Lukashenko during the meeting. He later responded to the criticism by admitting in a interview that he "played with fire in Minsk and got burned" while in the same interview he declared that he is convinced that he did nothing wrong. In addition, Fasel declared: "The aim of the trip was to have an important conversation with Lukashenko about the World Championship in Minsk. I have had good relations with Lukashenko for 20 years, we used to play hockey together and had much contact, including in 2014". Fasel also posed for a photograph with Dzmitry Baskau, the president of the Belarus Ice Hockey Federation who is accused of being involved in the killing of demonstrator Raman Bandarenka. For this reason Baskau received a travel ban to Latvia.
The Foreign Minister of Germany Heiko Maas declared that "anyone who is serious about solidarity with Belarus cannot seriously want to hold an Ice Hockey World Championship in this situation. It would be the greatest PR gift for Lukashenko and a devastating signal to the demonstators. I hope the organizers realize that."
Championship (Top Division)
Main article: 2021 IIHF World ChampionshipThe tournament will be held in Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia from 21 May to 6 June 2021.
Belarus – Host
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia – Host
Norway
Russia
Slovakia
Sweden
Switzerland
United States
Division I
Main article: 2021 IIHF World Championship Division IGroup A
The tournament was scheduled to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 9 to 15 May 2021.
Group B
The tournament was scheduled to be held in Katowice, Poland from 26 April to 2 May 2021.
Division II
Main article: 2021 IIHF World Championship Division IIGroup A
The tournament was scheduled to be held in Beijing, China from 10 to 16 April 2021.
Group B
The tournament was scheduled to be held in Reykjavík, Iceland from 18 to 24 April 2021.
Division III
Main article: 2021 IIHF World Championship Division IIIGroup A
The tournament was scheduled to be held in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg from 18 to 24 April 2021.
Group B
The tournament was scheduled to be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 19 to 25 April 2021.
Division IV
Main article: 2021 IIHF World Championship Division IVThe tournament was scheduled to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from 3 to 5 March 2021.
References
- "IIHF – IIHF Council announces more cancellations". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
- ^ "Ice hockey-IIHF president to meet Belarus' Lukashenko to discuss 2021 world championship - RIA". Reuters. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- "IOC bans Belarus president Lukashenko from Games". Reuters. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- "Lukashenko: Belarus ready to host Hockey World Championship if IIHF withstands pressure". TASS. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- "Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation".
- "Leuchanka joins calls for IIHF to strip Belarus of World Championship co-hosting rights". TASS. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- ""I Played With Fire And Got Burned." Rene Fasel About His Meeting With Lukashenko". Belarusfeed. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- "Fasel Makes Excuses After a Trip to Minsk". Charter 97. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- "Pro-govt athlete, official get Latvia's travel ban. They may be involved in murder of Raman Bandarenka". Belsat. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- "Ice Hockey: Belarus must meet 'specific requirements' to host World Championship". Deutsche Welle. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- "Welcome to Minsk & Riga in 2021". IIHF.com. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Tournaments for 2021 assigned". IIHF.com. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
External links
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