Flags of Russia and Belarus banned from the 2023 Hockey World Cup, and Ukraine granted special status

The organisers of the 2023 World Ice Hockey Championship have banned fans from bringing the flags of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus to the tournament arenas. At the same time, the national symbols of Ukraine are equated with the status of the host of the World Championship, Latvia.

This was announced by the chairman of the organising committee of the tournament, Edgars Buncis, the Delfi portal reports. In addition, he said, the Kazakh national team was forced to change its head coach and his entire staff. The team's coach was Andrei Skabelka from Belarus, who, as a representative of the aggressor country, was unable to obtain a visa to Latvia, and his assistants from Russia were fired.

"Based on our position, it will be allowed to bring and display the Ukrainian flag at the World Cup games. On the other hand, the flags of Russia and Belarus will be banned from the World Cup and will not be allowed to be displayed at the tournament arenas," Buncis said.

The 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship will take place from 12 to 28 May in Tampere, Finland, and the capital of Latvia. Riga will host the group stage matches between Canada, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, Kazakhstan and Slovenia, as well as two quarter-finals.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, world ice hockey champion Alexei Tereshchenko issued a "classic" Russian propaganda statement about other countries' envy of Russia and was ridiculed online. And the International Ice Hockey Federation has put an end to Russia's return to the World Cup.

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