The World Hockey Championship was taken away from Belarus. Tikhanovskaya is delighted – Lukashenko sharpens knives
Members of the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) Council made a final decision on the transfer of the 2021 World Championship from Belarus.
This was reported on the official website of the organization, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The IIHF Council today confirmed that the decision to move the 2021 Ice Hockey World Championships from Minsk is imminent due to security issues that are beyond the organization’s control,” the press release said.
Apparently, in order to prepare the public for such a decision, an international ranking of the security of countries was published today, in which Belarus dropped from 16th to 114th place.
Let us remind you that the President of the International Hockey Federation, Rene Fasel, who visited Minsk last week, complained to Alexander Lukashenko that he was under enormous pressure, but promised not to mix sport and politics.
Belarusian state television said the IIHF "failed to resist the political lobby."
“It is impossible to consider this decision from a logical point of view. 3,5 months before the start, Belarus, which is ready to host the forum even tomorrow, lost its sports festival. Most likely, the entire hockey world also lost the holiday. Everyone knows the high level of organization of sporting events in our country. The facts of conscientious fulfillment of the contract by the Belarusian side were not even taken into account,” the news said.
But the news was enthusiastically welcomed by the Belarusian opposition, led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who fled to Lithuania.
“This is a victory because Lukashenko failed to pretend that he had everything under control. This is a victory because Belarusians achieved their goal - and did it together. This is a victory for every Belarusian who knows that hockey is a game, and Belarusians are not going to play with criminals,” Tikhanovskaya wrote in her Telegram channel.
Her assertion is disputed by political scientist Alexander Shpakovsky, who is close to the president, who argues that the IIHF’s restrictive decision gives the authorities a free hand in relation to the protest opposition.
“After the cancellation of the World Hockey Championship in Minsk, there were no restraining factors left in the authorities in terms of limiting the activities of foreign information and political agents. Further steps will be taken in this direction in the near future,” Shpakovsky wrote.
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