The mayor of Riga, Latvia is taking a stand against the Belarusian government at the World Hockey Championship.

Martins Stakis, whose city is hosting the tournament, removed Belarus' flag from the collection of participating countries' banners Monday, replacing it with one that pro-democracy protesters typically fly.

Edgars Rinkevics, Latvia's minister of foreign affairs, shared a photo of the two men raising the other flag.

The IIHF criticized the move in a statement Tuesday, saying it doesn't agree with using the flag of a participating country for a political message. The governing body of international hockey demanded the removal of its own flag and the one for the tournament, wanting to avoid being associated with a political movement.

Additionally, the IIHF said it will keep the primary Belarusian flag displayed at all of the tourney's venues. It also hoped the mayor will reconsider his actions.

Stakis then agreed to remove the IIHF flags rather than putting the original Belarusian flag back up.

Belarus was originally tabbed as a co-host for this year's tournament along with Latvia. However, after several sponsors threatened to withdraw if Belarus wasn't stripped of its hosting privileges, the IIHF voted in February to make Latvia the event's lone host.

Authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko leads the Belarussian government. Mass protests have raged in the country since his re-election last year.

On Sunday, Lukashenko ordered a fighter jet to intercept a passenger plane carrying journalist Roman Protasevich, whom authorities subsequently arrested. More than two dozen European leaders then condemned Belarus' actions, demanded Protasevich's release, and recommended banning European flights over the country and Belarusian airline activity throughout the rest of Europe.

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