2021 IIHF World Championship

The 2021 IIHF World Championship () took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021. It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017. Their joint bid won by a very tight margin against the Finnish bid with the cities of Tampere and Helsinki. On 18 January 2021 the IIHF decided to remove Belarus as a co-host due to security reasons. On 2 February the IIHF voted to confirm Latvia as the sole host for the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic protocols, the tournament will be held in a "bubble" behind closed doors with no spectators. Prior to the beginning of the tournament, and against objections by Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš and Minister of Health, Daniels Pavļuts, the Latvian parliament voted in favour of a notion ordering the government to develop a plan for allowing spectators who are either fully vaccinated or otherwise immune due to recent infection.
==Venues==
The Minsk Arena was originally planned to be used for the Championship.
	Riga 	Riga
	Arēna Rīga 	Olympic Sports Centre
	Capacity: 10,300	Capacity: 6,200
	 	
	 	
===Belarus hosting controversy===
Despite similar political opposition in 2014 when Belarus was the sole host of the IIHF World Championship, Belarus was to be the co-host for the 2021 IIHF Championship. However, in the wake of the ongoing 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, several political groups, politicians and international entities, including the European Parliament and Krišjānis Kariņš, the Prime Minister of Latvia, which was set to co-host the championship, protested tournament matches being held in Belarus, and called for the country to be stripped of co-hosting duties.EU Parliament’s letter on BELARUS to the IIHFSituation in Belarus. European Parliament resolution of 17 September 2020 on the situation in Belarus(2020/2779(RSP)) Several sponsors of the tournament reportedly threatened to withdraw from sponsoring the event if it took place in Belarus.
On 18 January 2021, the IIHF, citing "safety and security issues," decided that the World Championship would not be played in Belarus. Latvia would remain as a co-host for the time being, but the IIHF was considering whether to go with another site, due to COVID-19 constraints and the desirability for single-site travel. Both Denmark and Slovakia (the tournament hosts in 2018 and 2019 respectively) reportedly offered to step in as hosts.
===Belarus flag controversy===
On 24 May 2021, following the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident, Latvian officials replaced the Belarusian state flag in Riga with the former flag defaced with the former coat of arms used by opposition groups, including at the 2021 IIHF World Championship display of flags, which was replaced by Mayor of Riga Mārtiņš Staķis and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs. As a result, Belarus expelled the entire Latvian embassy from their country. The IIHF issued a statement protesting the replacement of the flag, and IIHF president René Fasel asked the mayor to remove the IIHF name, its flag and its symbols from such sites, or to restore the flag, insisting that the IIHF is an "apolitical sports organization". In response, Staķis said he would remove the IIHF flags. On 28 May 2021, Belarus opened criminal case against Staķis and Rinkēvičs for incitement to national hatred.
==Participants==
Qualified as host
*
Automatic qualifier after the cancellation of the 2020 IIHF World Championship
* (Originally co-host)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* ROC1
*
*
*
*
1 Pursuant to a December 2020 ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping sanctions, Russian athletes and teams are prohibited from competing under the Russian flag or using the Russian national anthem at any Olympic Games or world championships through 16 December 2022, and must compete as "neutral athlete[s]." For IIHF tournaments, the Russian team will play under the name "ROC".
==Seeding==
The seedings in the preliminary round are based on the 2020 IIHF World Ranking, as of the end of the 2019 IIHF World Championship, using the serpentine system with a swap between Canada and ROC to "accommodate special organizational needs".
Group A
* ROC (2)
* (4)
* (5)
* (8)
* (9)
* (12)
* (13)
* (19)
Group B
* (1)
* (3)
* (6)
* (7)
* (10)
* (11)
* (15)
* (16)
==Rosters==
Each team's roster consists of at least 15 skaters (forwards, and defencemen) and 2 goaltenders, and at most 25 skaters and 3 goaltenders. All 16 participating nations, through the confirmation of their respective national associations, had to submit a "Long List" no later than two weeks before the tournament, and a final roster by the Passport Control meeting prior to the start of tournament.
==Summary==
This tournament was notable for the amount of upsets which occurred in the preliminary round, including Denmark and Belarus' victory over Sweden, Kazakhstan's victory over Finland, Slovakia's victory over Russia, and Latvia's victory over Canada.
==Match officials==
18 referees and linesmen were announced on 7 April 2021.
Referees	Linesmen
* Christoph Sternat
* Maxim Sidorenko
* Oliver Gouin
* Antonín Jeřábek
* Martin Fraňo
* Robin Šír
* Mads Frandsen
* Lassi Heikkinen
* Kristian Vikman
* André Schrader
* Andris Ansons
* Roman Gofman
* Yevgeni Romasko
* Peter Staňo
* Tobias Björk
* Mikael Nord
* Michael Tscherrig
* Andrew Bruggeman	
* Elias Seewald
* Dmitri Golyak
* Dustin McCrank
* Daniel Hynek
* Jiří Ondráček
* Andreas Krøyer
* Lauri Nikulainen
* Hannu Sormunen
* Nicolas Constantineau
* Jonas Merten
* Dāvis Zunde
* Gleb Lazarev
* Nikita Shalagin
* Šimon Synek
* Ludvig Lundgren
* Emil Yletyinen
* David Obwegeser
* Brian Oliver
==Mascot==
The official mascot of the tournament was revealed in February 2020 by the IIHF. His name is Spiky the Hedgehog and he was voted by the fans in Belarus and Latvia. Hedgehog is very popular animal in the hosting countries and it represents the fighting spirit and determination of the Belarus and Latvian national hockey teams.https://www.sport.cz/hokej/ms-2021/clanek/2046364-ms-hokej-program-skupiny-tabulka.html
==Preliminary round==
The groups were announced on 20 May 2020. The schedule was released on 5 February 2021.
===Group A===
 		 		 	
21 May 2021		 		 	
ROC 		4–3 		 	
align=right		2–5 		 	
22 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		4–3 		 	
align=right		1–7 		ROC	
align=right		2–5 		 	
23 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		1–2 		 	
align=right		0–1 		 	
align=right		0–1 		 	
24 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		3–1 		ROC	
align=right		3–2 (OT) 		 	
25 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		2–3 (OT) 		 	
align=right		0–7 		 	
26 May 2021		 		 	
ROC 		3–0 		 	
align=right		3–4 		 	
27 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		8–1 		 	
align=right		2–4 		 	
28 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		4–1 		 	
align=right		5–2 		 	
29 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		6-1 		 	
align=right		1-4 		ROC	
align=right		2-0 		 	
30 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		0-6 		 	
align=right		3-1 		 	
31 May 2021		 		 	
align=right		2-1 (GWS)		 	
ROC 		3-2 (GWS)		 	
1 June 2021		 		 	
align=right		6-3 		 	
align=right		3-7 		 	
ROC 		6-0 		 	
===Group B===
 		 			
21 May 2021		 			
align=right		9–4 			
align=right		0–2 			
22 May 2021		 			
align=right		1–5 			
align=right		2–1 			
align=right		2–3 (GWS)			
23 May 2021		 			
align=right		4–1 			
align=right		2–1 (GWS)			
align=right		1–5 			
24 May 2021		 			
align=right		3–0 			
align=right		3–1 			
25 May 2021		 			
align=right		3–0 			
align=right		5–2 			
26 May 2021		 			
align=right		3–2 			
align=right		4–2 			
27 May 2021		 			
align=right		4–2 			
align=right		3–0 			
28 May 2021		 			
align=right		2–4 			
align=right		3–4 (GWS)			
29 May 2021		 			
align=right		3-11 			
align=right		1-2 			
align=right		1-2 			
30 May 2021		 			
align=right		1-7 			
align=right		3-2 (OT) 			
31 May 2021		 			
align=right		2-0 			
align=right		3-1 			
1 June 2021		 			
align=right		2-3 (GWS)			
align=right		2-4 			
align=right		2-1 			
==Playoff round==
===Bracket===
===Final===
==Final standings==
==Broadcasting rights==
These are the broadcasters for the 2021 IIHF World Championship.
Country 	Broadcaster
Austria 	ORF
Belarus 	BTRC
Canada 	TSN
Canada 	RDS
Croatia 	Arena Sport
Czech Republic	ČT Sport
Denmark 	TV 2 Sport
Estonia 	ERR
Finland 	MTV3
Finland 	C More
France 	L'Équipe
Georgia 	Silk Sport
Germany 	SPORT1
Hungary 	Sport 1
Italy 	DAZN
Israel 	Sport 1
Kazakhstan 	Qazsport
Latvia 	LTV
Norway 	V Sport
Poland 	TVP
Portugal 	Sport TV
Russia 	Channel One
Russia 	Match TV
Slovakia 	RTVS
Slovenia 	RTV
Sweden 	SVT
Switzerland 	SRG SSR
Turkey 	Tivibu Spor
United Kingdom	FreeSports
United States 	NHL Network
==References==
==External links==
*Official website
 
2021 Men
Category:2021 in ice hockey
2021 IIHF World Championship
IIHF World Championship