MINSK, 24 May (BelTA) - The head of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation Dmitry Baskov commented on the incident with the replacement of the state flag of the Republic of Belarus in the Latvian capital, the host of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, BelTA learned from the press service of the public organization.
"The Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation views the gesture of the Riga administration as an act of deep disrespect and unprecedented pressure towards the athletes representing our country at the 2021 IIHF World Championship. As we have repeatedly stressed, our team is taking part in the tournament to show our country's worth in sport and not in politics which they tried to drag it in every way as we were preparing for the championship as the co-host. We are deeply dismayed that foreign states consider it possible to turn sport into a political battlefield," Dmitry Baskov said.
The Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation has already sent an official note to President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Rene Fasel and the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. According to Dmitry Baskov, replacing the Belarusian state flag with the white-red-white flag at the display of the participating nations' flags is nothing else but an attempt to politicize the IIHF World Championships, which contradicts the nature of the event.
“We have also received reports about unsanctioned picketing near the places of residence of the Belarusian team. All these actions violate the IIHF Code of Conduct, which is also binding for the countries that host the IIHF events. We are deeply concerned about the safety of our players during their stay in Riga and hope that the IIHF will be able to only take additional measures to protect the Belarusian team from external pressure but also to comply with its own regulations,” Dmitry Baskov added.
