Time to decide

Earlier today the Ice Hockey Federation of Latvia released a statement hoping to receive a response from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on the location of the 2021 World Championship no later than February 3.
"The documents have been sent to the IIHF, we are waiting for a response no later than February 3," - said the representative of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation.

The tournament was originally planned to be held in the capitals of Belarus and Latvia.The International Federation on January 18 announced that Minsk would not host the World Championship.

A IIHF Council meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, February 2, but at the eve of the decision, it's still unclear which path the Federation will follow: in the last hours two opposite rumours have arisen.

Option A: a source cited by Russian site Allhockey.ru reports the World Championship will held in Latvia without involving a second country, "If no surprises occur, at the IIHF council on Tuesday, Latvia will be declared the sole host country of the 2021 World Cup," the agency's source said. The decision depends on how the Latvian side was able to convince IIHF that the use of the second arena in Riga will not have any risks associated with the quality of ice

Option B: there are an opposite rumour, reported by Swiss portal Watson: according to the publication, in addition to the already approved Riga, the matches of the tournament will be held in Bratislava - this is the option that the IIHF working group proposes instead of Minsk, because of the geographical position of Slovak capital in the center of Europe and the already tested venue. More, hosting the 2021 World Cup in two countries will allow the IHF to earn more than if the tournament is held in one country. The world championship could still take place in two countries if IIHF changes its cautious approach to planning with no or severe reduction in attendance.IIHF can earn more if it hosts the event in two countries.

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