Congress can take hockey championship from Belarus

Hockey world championship in Minsk is included in the agenda of the IIHF Congress in Helsinki, Polish Radio website learned from IIHF spokesman Szymon Szemberg.

Aleksander Łukaszenka grywa dość często w hokeja

Foto: belarus.by

Congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation may therefore choose to relocate the Ice Hockey Championship 2014 from Belarus and transfer them to another location. The decision belongs to the national hockey union delegates, who will vote on the matter during the Congress (17^th-20^th May).

The wording (in agenda) is: Belarus 2014. What will be discussed will be determined by the desire of the 70 members associations to voice their opinion and concerns, the spokesman Szymon Szemberg commented.

Human rights defenders, Belarussian opposition, the European Parliament, urge IIHF to transfer the tournament to another country, until the Belarusian authorities do not stop the repression and release political prisoners.

Last year, during the Congress in Bratislava, they did not decide about the matter because it was not included in the agenda, the MEP and former ice hockey player Peter Stastny explained in the interview for Polish Radio website two weeks ago. Peter Stastny believes that the championship in a country where human rights are violated is destroying the reputation of sports and hockey in particular. He hopes that relocation of the championship will be especially painful blow to Alexander Lukashenko, a passionate hockey fan, and a stimulus for change in Belarus as well.

The IIHF Congress will be held from 17-20 May in Helsinki.

Read an interview with Peter Stastny >>> IN ENGLISH

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