The
2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted by
Belarus in its capital,
Minsk. Sixteen national teams were competing in two venues, the
Minsk-Arena and
Chizhovka-Arena. It was the first time Belarus hosted the tournament. The selection of Belarus to host this competition was the subject of much debate, with some politicians in both
Europe and the
United States calling for the
IIHF to move the tournament to another country.