MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has not received a single call to strip Russia of the right to hold the 2016 World Championships for political reasons, IIHF President Rene Fasel has told Russian reporters.

According to Fasel, Russia’s political relations with other countries are in no way affecting preparations for the world championships. He noted that when the federation decided to grant the right to hold the 2014 championships to Belarus, he received incredible number of letters from opponents of holding the tournament in this country, mainly from North America and Western Europe. Nevertheless, everything went off without a hitch. Fasel added that in the case of Russia he had not received a single letter of this kind, probably with the exception of an E-mail message from some crazy person.

In 2012 and 2013, representatives of the European Parliament and some members of the US Congress said Belarus had to be stripped of the right to hold the world championships.

Basel expressed hope that the IIHF would be able to stay out of politics and not succumb to pressure from this or that government.

The 2016 World Championships will be held in Moscow and St.Petersburg between May 6 and May 22.