Russian two-time Olympic ice hockey champion Alexander Kozhevnikov threw a typical tantrum after the organisers of the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship in Riga banned fans from bringing the flags of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus to the Arena Riga stands. At the same time, the national symbols of Ukraine are equated with the status of the host of the World Championship, Latvia.

"Meanness is meanness. It is right to say that we need to leave this organisation, the IIHF. The International Federation has been overdoing it for a long time. Everything there has long been rotten," Kozhevnikov said on Match TV.

The Russian fans ridiculed this passage of their titled compatriot.

"That's right! We need to play with the Belarusians until we're blue in the face," the fans mocked.

Users also sarcastically remind Kozhevnikov that after the recent trips of Russian sports officials to Africa, there will be no need to compete in the elite of world hockey.

"Yesterday the Minister of Sport signed a paper with the minister from Togo. That's it - Russia, Belarus, Togo, North Korea, Iran. We can make our own World Cup. Kozhevnikov himself will still be able to compete, even in the most drunken state," say sports fans from Russia.

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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