IIHF confirms Latvia as sole host of 2021 worlds

Riga, Latvia, will be the sole host of the 2021 IIHF World Championship.

The IIHF Council has voted to confirm the decision, hockey's governing body announced Tuesday.

The IIHF selected Minsk, Belarus, as one of the event's two host cities alongside Riga in 2017. But the body determined in January that Minsk would no longer serve as co-host due to "safety and security issues that are beyond the IIHF's control."

Widespread protests against the Belarusian government and its authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, have been raging in the country since his re-election in 2020.

Several sponsors threatened to withdraw from the tournament if it remained in Minsk.

IIHF president Rene Fasel previously said awarding the event solely to Riga wasn't an option.

Last year's worlds were canceled due to COVID-19.