MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets hopes that Russia will be allowed to host the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship despite the sanctions by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against Russian sports.
"We expect that we will keep the world championship in Russia," Golodets, who oversees sports and culture, told reporters at the World Hockey Forum in Moscow.
The WADA Executive Committee (ExCo) approved on Monday the recommendations of its Compliance Review Committee (CRC) to annul the compliance status of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) as well as to strip Russia of the right to participate in major international sports tournaments, including the Olympics, Paralympics and world championships, for the period of four years.
The world’s governing anti-doping body also ruled that Russia must not host, or bid for hosting any major international sports tournament in the four-year period. Russian state officials, as well as the staff of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), were banned from attending all major international sports tournaments for the period of four years.
Russia was selected as a venue for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship and the tournament will be co-hosted by the cities of Novosibirsk and Omsk. The country’s second largest city of St. Petersburg was selected to host the 2023 IIHF World Championship.
Moscow holds the fourth World Hockey Forum running on December 12-13. Representatives of the world hockey community will discuss topical issues related to this sport. The forum takes place under the auspices of the International Ice Hockey Federation, the Russian Sports Ministry, the Russian Olympic Committee and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.
