France/Germany, Denmark/Latvia Bid for IIHF Champs
The International Ice Hockey Federation received joint bids from France/Germany and Denmark/Latvia to host the 2017 world championships.
A vote on the host city for IIHF’s marquee event will take place at the May 2013 IIHF Congress in Stockholm.
"From our side, hosting the World Championship is a part of the development strategy for France," said French Ice Hockey Federation General Secretary Eric Ropert in a statement on the IIHF website.
"We thought that we wouldn’t be able to do it alone. After all, the last time we hosted the World Championship was in 1951. We have an excellent working relationship with Germany, and we can benefit from the experience that they had hosting the World Championship in 2010."
Cologne will serve as the main city for the tournament, with matches also taking place at Palais Omnisport Paris-Bercy Arena in Paris. The semi-final and finals would take place at Europe’s largest arena, Lanxess Arena.
Riga, Latvia hosted the 2006 World Championship, a key feature in its decision to bid for the 2017 event.
"Taking into account the successful organization of the IIHF World Championship 2006 in Latvia I believe that it was a great experience for all participating nations, as well as all parties involved, such as organizers, teams, staff and guests," said Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.
"With the experience the Latvian Hockey Federation gained during this event, we will be honored to host the Championship in 2017 once again."
Latvia has hosted a combined 11 IIHF and Olympic qualifying tournaments.
Matches would be split between Copenhagen and Riga. The venues would be Copenhagen Arena, which is scheduled to have a groundbreaking in 2013, and Arena Riga. Latvian officials said they will build three fan zones in Riga for the tournament.
IIHF said in a statement that joint bids could become more common.
"Following the success of the Finland/Sweden World Championship in 2011-12, the door has opened to more co-hosting opportunities for the world’s biggest annual international ice hockey tournament."
IOC "Closely Monitoring" Situation in Pakistan
The IOC says it's "closely monitoring" the situation of alleged political interference with the Pakistan Olympic Association.
A spokesperson for the IOC told news agency AFP it's "aware of the situation and is closely monitoring the issue with the national Olympic committee."
POA president Syed Hasan Arif claimed earlier this week the government’s decision to put the POA under an "ad-hoc" committee violated its independence, and was done to give the government more control over Pakistani sports. The Olympic Charter mandates that all National Olympic Committees must be autonomous from the government.
If the government does not meet IOC standards for autonomy with the POA, the NOC could be suspended from the Olympic Movement. However, no official action against the POA has been taken.
Written by Ed Hula III.
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