RIGA – Months of political drama reminiscent of the ice arena diplomacy of the Cold War era have led up to this year’s ice hockey world championship starting in Latvia this week.
The contest was supposed to be co-hosted by Latvia and Belarus until the latter was swept by mass protests and deadly repression after an election on August 9, 2020.
A group of athletes fiercely opposed to President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, campaigned for the championship to be taken away from the country.
They were soon joined by Latvia which on August 17 said it no longer wanted Belarus to co-host, breaking with decades of collaboration between the…
