On Monday, 18 January, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima issued a statement on the upcoming Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship, refusing to co-host the Championship together with Belarus and reaffirming Latvia’s preparedness to host the Championship in Riga, noted Rihards Kols, Chair of the Committee.
“Latvia deems it impossible to co-host the 2021 World Championship together with Belarus, on the grounds that it would be unacceptable to hold a sports event of such magnitude in Minsk, while Belarus is riddled with violent repression,” said Kols, quoting the statement, and added that the International Ice Hockey Federation will decide on moving or cancelling the Championship in the coming days.
In the statement, Members of the Parliament call on the International Ice Hockey Federation to adhere to its principles and to refuse to legitimise the brutal and inhuman acts committed by the Belarusian public authorities against peaceful people, and to deny Belarus the right to co-host the upcoming Championship. The document also calls on excluding such candidate states that are deemed ineligible due to doping violations.
The statement reaffirms Latvia’s preparedness to act as a host country for the 2021 Men’s World Championship in collaboration with the International Ice Hockey Federation.
In the statement, the Committee emphasises that the Belarusian public authorities continue to repress and violently persecute members of civil society, independent mass media, as well as the Belarusian sports community, including athletes.
The statement also underlines that sportsmanship and fair play are the two most crucial underlying principles of sports, which, when respected and observed, especially in large-scale international sports events, may bring closer together states and societies.
In this document, the parliamentarians point out that the current situation in Belarus would pose threats to athletes’ security and health not only due to the brutal conduct of the Belarusian public authorities, but also due to the irresponsible attitude towards the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statement also reaffirms unwavering support for the well-being of the Belarusian people and the national sovereignty of Belarus.
The right to co-host the 2021 Ice Hockey World Championship were jointly acquired by Latvia and Belarus in 2017. In its Resolution on the situation in Belarus, the European Parliament has also urged the national ice hockey federations of the European Union member states and all other democratic states to call on the International Ice Hockey Federation to revoke its decision on granting Belarus the right to co-host the 2021 World Championship, until the situation in Belarus improves, especially in the area of human rights.
Kols noted that the Foreign Affairs Committee decided to adopt the document as a statement of the Saeima and call for its inclusion in the urgent sitting of the Saeima on Thursday.
Saeima Press Service