The International Ice Hockey Federation announced Thursday that the 2006 men's world championship will indeed be held in Latvia

The International Ice Hockey Federation announced Thursday that the 2006 men's world championship will indeed be held in Latvia after organizers sufficiently proved the financing was in place for a new arena in Riga. Sweden was on stand-by to hold the 2006 worlds if the Latvians couldn't get their act together by Thursday's deadline.``The Latvian Ice Hockey Association has submitted all the necessary documents regarding financing and the general contractor to the IIHF's evaluation committee guaranteeing the timely construction of the arena in Riga,'' said IIHF president Rene Fasel. ``This is obviously a great sense of relief for both the IIHF and the Latvian association that we could keep our original allocation for 2006. I am especially happy for the Latvian fans who have shown such a passion for their team and for the world championship. Year after year, they have added so much colour and enthusiasm to the event while sacrificing so much from their often modest means. So one can only be very happy that finally they get to host the party.'' Latvia has never before hosted the men's worlds. The new rink in Riga will seat 12,000 and should be open by February 2006. The second arena will be in the Riga municipality of Skonto, where an already existing event venue will be reconstructed to be a hockey arena for 6,000 fans. Two-time defending champion Canada will go for a third straight title next year in Innsbruck and Vienna, Austria. The 2007 world tournament goes in Russia, followed by the first-ever world championship staged in Canada in 2008, with Halifax and Quebec City as the co-hosts.