Finland is organizing competitions with Latvia. Originally, the Games were supposed to be in Russia.
27.5. 13:45 • Updated May 27 14:06
Tampere has also been chosen as the main venue for the Men’s World Hockey Championships for 2023, the International Hockey Association IIHF announced on Friday. The City of Tampere confirms this in a press release.
Tampere will organize next year’s World Cup together with the Latvian capital Riga. In both cities, one starting block and semi-finals will be played, but from the semi-finals onwards, the matches will be played in Tampere. The spring 2023 World Cup tournament will be played from 12 to 28. May.
In late April, the IIHF decided not to play next year’s World Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia. The IIHF at the time justified its decision on the safety of players, editors, journalists and fans.
Russia and supporting Belarus have so far been excluded from international hockey due to the war in Ukraine.
The others withdrew
Tampere and Riga remained the only applicants for the 2023 World Cup, as the joint application of Hungary and Slovenia was withdrawn a few days before the meeting of the International Hockey Federation on Friday. The potential of Tampere was thus considered strong in advance.
Mayor of Tampere Anna-Kaisa Ikonen rejoices at the partnership between Tampere and Riga in the World Cup to be played next spring.
– It is incredibly great to experience the World Cup drug again, and we are taken from this honor. This spring’s Games have been a great experience and we look forward to working with Riga. Fans have a great opportunity to experience two wonderful cities just about an hour away from each other, Ikonen says in a press release.