Germany, Sweden withdraw from 2008 bidding

An announcement about the 2008 tournament will come Friday

The German and Swedish delegations to the IIHF Congress in Prague withdrew their bids for the 2008 IIHF World Championship Thursday and fully acknowledged their support for Canada's bid.

Canada is now the only bidder for the 2008 tournament. Germany and Sweden cited their approval of the concept of holding it in the birthplace of ice hockey for the 100th anniversary of the IIHF.

The Canadian presentation was made by Bob Nicholson, President of Hockey Canada, and Sheldon Lanchbery, Hockey Canada's Director of International Relations. In the event of a successful Canadian bid, Quebec City and Halifax would be the host cities.

The final decision on the awarding of the 2008 IIHF World Championship will be made Friday at the IIHF Congress.

Germany and Sweden also announced that they would withdraw from bidding for the 2009 IIHF World Championship, leaving Switzerland as the only bidder for that tournament.

The German delegation asked the IIHF Congress to take its two withdrawals today into consideration when Germany bids for the 2010 IIHF World Championship, next year in Austria.

The Swedish delegation asked that its two withdrawals be taken into account regarding the matter of potential standby organizers for the 2006 IIHF World Championship, currently slated for Latvia.

Latvia has until July 1, 2004 to produce all the necessary guarantees and documents indicating its capability of hosting the tournament.

In the event that Latvia is unable to host, Sweden and Finland are both bidding as standby organizers for the 2006 tournament. Although there has been speculation that the two countries would host the tournament dually, this would not be the case. Only one host country would be chosen.

A decision regarding the choice of a standby organizer for the 2006 tournament will be taken Friday at the IIHF Congress.

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