Sponsors threaten to pull out of IIHF World Championship over human rights concerns in Belarus.

Although long time President of the International Ice Hockey Federation Rene Fasel will step down from his role later this year after 27 years at the helm, he has managed to embroil himself in one final controversy before finally exiting the stage.

The controversial Fasel has come under fire as of late after two major sponsors of his tournament announced that they would be pulling their endorsements following the IIHF's decision to hold the tournament in Minsk, Belarus. The sponsors, Czech automaker Skoda and German oils company Liqui Moly, have threatened to pull their funding due to the controversy that surrounds the re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. There have also been accusations of human rights violations in Belarus following the mass arrest of protestors, elements that neither brand wants to be associated with.

Fasel himself has stoked the fire of this controversy after meeting with Lukashenko himself in Minsk earlier this month, especially following a photograph that showed the two men embracing. Fasel for his part tried to downplay the incident, but thus far the reception to his statements has not been positive.

"Hugging in a country like Belarus is an absolute normal fact," said Fasel as per the Associated Press. "Like you have a handshake, they do hugging. It was no bad intention in that from Alexander Lukashenko or from me."

Funnily enough although Fasel has been around for a very long time, Skoda has actually sponsored the tournament for a whopping 28 years so there's no doubt that their stance here has put immense pressure on Fasel and the IIHF. 

The tournament was initially to be split between Latvia and Belarus, however Latvia has since petitioned the IIHF to find a new co-host for the event following concerns over the aforementioned human rights violations. Thus far the Danish city of Herning and Slovakia have both been discussed as alternatives, while the possibility of either Latvia and Belarus hosting the tournament on its own also exists. 

Fasel and the IIHF's council will discuss the hosting of the event during a scheduled conference call on Monday, and an announcement on what the plan will be moving forward is expected at that time.