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This decision was made at a meeting of the IIHF Council.
An official statement from the federation states that the relocation of the championship from Minsk has become necessary for security reasons beyond the control of the IIHF.
The championships in Minsk and Riga were supposed to take place from May 21 to June 6, but due to human rights abuses during the massive protests in Belarus, many IIHF supporters refused to support the event if the tournament was to take place in a state controlled by Alexander Lukashenko.
In recent days, carmaker Škoda, cosmetics brand Nivea and car lubricant maker Liqui Moly have threatened to stop sponsoring the hockey championship.
Latvian politicians, including Foreign Minister Edgaras Rinkevičius, also expressed reluctance to organize priorities together with Belarus.
The IIHF reports that in the near future it will address the issue of hosting the World Cup and consider whether Riga can host the tournament alone.
Recently 15 minutes wrote about the possibility of Latvians sharing the planet’s priorities with Lithuania.
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