The World Championship in two countries is a bad idea

07 May 2012 | Davide Tuniz

Former player Darius Kasparaitis criticizes the double location

In his blog on Russian media R-Sport, Darius Kasparaitis, currently in Sweden to follow the World Championship, expressed his doubts about the idea to organize the competition in two countries: "I think that the organizers made a mistake, spreading the championship in two countries. This is not football. The idea is unsuccessful. Because of the split, fans can't feel the real atmosphere of such an event. Especially semifinals and finals in Helsinki - is an affront to the Swedes.

There are actually two group of three strong teams: Russia, Sweden and the Czech Republic in Stockholm, and USA, Canada, Finland, and maybe even Slovakia in Helsinki. Our group is interesting, but I would like to see USA and Canada. I do not know why they decided to put the two countries together. Strange. If the World Championship was held just in Stockholm, fans would been much more. Canadians would go to watch Russia and Sweden. I think that Russia could somehow organize fans trip. Ferries go from St. Petersburg and from Finland. I do not know ... Once all is not well organized. I live in the center of Stockholm, there are many Russian goes to museums, but they did not even know that the World Championship is held here and the team Russia plays. They are so surprised, they say: "Is the World Championship in Sweden? We thought it was in Belarus"