The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has chosen Finland and Latvia to jointly host the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championships after the tournament was pulled from St. Petersburg following Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The IIHF said in a statement on May 27 that the Finnish city of Tampere will be the main venue for the tournament, with the Latvian capital, Riga, hosting one preliminary round group and two quarter-finals.
The tournament was taken away from St. Petersburg on April 26, when the IIHF said the "decision to relocate the event was taken primarily out of concern for the safety and well-being of all participating players, officials, media, and fans."
It had earlier stripped the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship from the Russian cities of Omsk and Novosibirsk citing similar reasons.
Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
