According to 24 heures, Lausanne was told that shortly before Christmas that Fribourg's bid for the World Championship is preferred over theirs, but that they would get the opportunity to host the tournament if Fribourg would back out.
Lausanne is, however, not willing to just take that. "I find it hard to believe that Lausanne will not be designated," Patrice Iseli, president of the local organizing committee of the 2020 World Championship, states. "It's a question of common sense, fair play, and recognition for all the work accomplished."
Lausanne HC's president Patrick de Preux even considers an appeal if Lausanne is not selected: "If so, we reserve the right to appeal to any competent legal authority." LHC's CEO Chris Wolf also stresses that this is "not a war against Fribourg. We just find it abnormal to have been snubbed and not reconsidered. We feel that we have a right to this World Championship."
Klaus Zaugg reported in December that Lausanne was no longer in the running as host city and that Fribourg was to replace them. On Monday, Blick then reported that the SIHF had handed in their bid to the IIHF and that their first choice was indeed Fribourg and with that HC Fribourg-Gottéron's BCF Arena.
However, as the contracts are not yet signed, the SIHF was not ready to confirm to Blick that the BCF Arena in Fribourg and the Swiss Life Arena in Zürich are indeed their choices for their bid for the 2026 Worlds. 24 heures followed up on Blick's report and were told by the SIHF on Tuesday that the host cities would be designated between the end of January and the beginning of February.
