Kommersant: "Putin plans to win bid for another cup"
The Congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) opens in Bratislava today and will discuss which country will host the 2016 World Championship.
The congress will choose between Russia, Ukraine and Denmark.
Russia and Denmark have the best chances to win the bid.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will attend the congress. So far, he has won all Russia's bids at such meetings.
Putin attended the International Olympic Committee's session in Guatemala in 2007 and won the bid for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
Last year, he spoke before the International Football Federation's Executive Committee and Russia was selected to host the 2018 World Cup.
Russia last won the World Hockey Championship in 2007. Of the three candidates, it has the most experience hosting IIHF cups. All in all, six world cups have been held in Russia – five in Moscow (1957, 1973, 1979, 1986 and 2007) and one in St Petersburg (2007). For the first time, Russia suggests holding the cup in two cities – group stage games in Moscow and St Petersburg, and playoffs in Moscow.
Fans know well the arenas where the cup may be held – the Megasport Sports Palace on Khodynka in Moscow seating 13,000, which was built for the 2007 cup, and the Ice Palace seating more than 12,000 in St Petersburg, which was built for the 2000 cup. The championship is tentatively scheduled for April 29 to May 15.
Sweden and Finland will jointly host the world cups in 2012 and 2013. Belarus will be the venue of the 2014 cup and the Czech Republic will host the 2015 cup. ITAR-TASS
