International Ice Hockey Federation: World Championship-2014 to Take Place in Minsk

IIHF Annual Congress, which is now taking place in Helsinki, has announced the hosts and dates for 42 tournaments next season that will be held under the aegis of the above-mentioned organization. It has also confirmed the venues and dates of the World Championship top divisions events for the next few years, reads the official website of the IIHF.

At the Congress it was announced that the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will, as part of the two-year co-hosting agreement, be held in Stockholm and Helsinki (May 3-19). But this time the main host of the tournament will be the Swedish capital.

The 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship is to take place in Minsk (9-25 May), the 2015 World Championship will be held in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic (May 1-17), whereas the 2016 World Forum is entrusted to Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia (April 29 – May 15).

Thus, the IIHF Congress has rejected the demands of European and American politicians to move the 2014 World Championship from Belarus to another country.