The IIHF World Championship is a hockey tournament that occurs every year hosted by the International Ice Hockey Foundation. The IIHF, for short, is the governing body for international ice hockey and was founded in 1908 in Paris, France.
Last year the IIHF World Championship was hosted exclusively in Finland, in Helsinki and Tampere. The home-ice advantage may have proved to be a benefit as Finland walked away with their fourth title, and their first ever on home ice. But, this year, the IIHF World Championship is dually hosted in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia. Originally, the tournament was set to play in Russia.