2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk
Minsk-Arena
Minsk, the capital of Belarus, will host the 2014 IIHF World Championship.
Belarus got 75 votes in the race for hosting the 2014 IIHF World Championship at the Annual Congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation in Bern and beat the other candidates - Hungary (24 votes), Latvia (3) and Ukraine (3).
The budget of the organizing committee is €11.4 million.
Time frame for the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk
The 2014 World Ice Hockey Championship will be held on 9-25 May 2014.
2014 IIHF World Championship Venues
The two main venues for the 2014 World Ice Hockey Championship will be Minsk-Arena (the 15,000-seater inaugurated on 30 January, 2009) and Chizhovka-Arena (will be delivered by 2013, the seating capacity around 7,700).
IIHF officials and international ice hockey stars (video) have spoken very highly of Minsk-Arena.
Accommodation for the participants and guests of the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk
Today Minsk hotels can accommodate about 5,000 people. The biggest hotels are the Hotel Europe, Minsk Hotel, Crowne Plaza Hotel and Victoria Hotel.
International construction companies have submitted their proposals for building more hotels in Minsk with a combined capacity of 5,000, including four- and five-star hotels accommodating a total of 1,000.
The hotels are scheduled for delivery in late 2013. The construction of a new hotel complex (in Pobediteley Prospekt) is already in progress.
Transport infrastructure of the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk
An additional runway will be built at the Minsk National Airport. All major international motorways crossing Belarus will be made four-lane.
Four new traffic interchanges will be constructed to ease the traffic near the ice arenas, additional metro stations will be built, and the city commuter train service will be introduced.
Visa requirements during the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk
The Belarusian authorities have ruled to make the entry to Belarus during the 2014 IIHF World Championship (on 25 April – 31 May 2014) visa-free.
Security during the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk
The problem of terrorism in Belarus is nonexistent, and the crime rate is low. Belarusian people are tolerant and hospitable.
In addition, the Belarusian Interior Ministry has jointed efforts with the Emergencies Ministry, the Healthcare Ministry and the Ice Hockey Federation of Belarus and created a system of additional security measures for the IIHF World Championship.
Language issue during the 2014 IIHF World Championship
Not all Minskers speak foreign languages. The Education Ministry in cooperation with youth organizations will recruit volunteers with foreign language skills to help guests and participants of the 2014 World Ice Hockey Championship . The volunteers will be deployed in all public places of the city.
Tickets to 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk
The 2014 IIHF World Championship (WC) ticket program will be launched in September 2013.
Following the 2013 IIHF World Championship in Stockholm and Helsinki in May the 2014 IIHF WC organizers will meet with the International Ice Hockey Federation leadership. The meeting is set to decide on the 2014 World Championship schedule, which will help launch the ticket program.
The 2014 IIHF WC playing scheme will remain the same as for the 2012 and 2013 tournaments. This means that 16 teams participating in the preliminary round will be divided in two eight-team groups. After the first stage four best national teams from each group advance to the quarterfinal.
The minimal cost of the tickets to the 2014 IIHF WC will be €10. According to the preliminary information, tickets for the final matches will cost €250.
The tickets to the IIHF WC 2014 will be available at the ticket offices in Belarus and via the Internet. In order to avoid profiteering the IIHF WC 2014 organizers will make agreements with foreign partners who will be granted exclusive rights to sell tickets abroad.
2014 IIHF World Championship mascot
The Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation announced an open competition to create the 2014 IIHF World Championship mascot. As many as 40 variants of the mascot participated in the competition. The mascot depicting the aurochs, one of the symbols of Belarus, was announced the winner and became the official mascot of the ice hockey tournament. The mascot was created by artist and designer from Minsk Vitaly Ortyukh.
In March 2013 a nationwide contest for the best name and story/biography for the official mascot of the 2014 IIHF World Championship was announced. A special jury will select top ten works, the winner to be decided by online voting.
The laureates of the creative competition will be awarded diplomas and tickets to the 2014 IIHF World Championship.
Only the Directorate for the 2014 IIHF World Championship can use the mascot for advertising purposes.
The design of the 2014 IIHF World Championship adheres to the graphic concept named “Multifaceted occasion!” The slogan of the championship is “We create the occasion together!”
2014 IIHF WC souvenirs
In early 2008 the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation announced a competition to decide on the best Belarusian 2014 IIHF WC bid logo. The organizing committee received more than 200 works, designer Victoria Adamovich’s laconic logo winning the competition. The 2014 IIHF WC logo is recognizable and popular. The logo is used to make souvenirs and ads of the tournament. One can also see it on the public transport, bills and billboards.
As many as 500 days prior to the competition about 40 Belarusian enterprises began manufacturing souvenirs with the 2014 IIHF WC logo. Among the most popular ones are T-shirts, caps, scarves, towels, pucks, hockey sticks (including decorative made from cut glass), badges and magnets. These souvenirs are available in shops, passenger stations and the National Airport Minsk.
Three months prior to the tournament the souvenir manufacturing rights will belong to the International Ice Hockey Federation.
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