HELSINKI – The hosts and teams for 42 tournaments next season were announced at the 2012 IIHF Annual Congress including all World Championship divisions and the Olympic Qualification events.

Budapest will host the men’s World Championship event below the top-16, the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A, where the host nation Hungary will battle for the two promotion slots to the top division of the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship with Italy, Kazakhstan, Japan, Great Britain and Korea.

The bid with the slogan “Ready for Ice Hockey” was not challenged by another country. Same as in 2011, the event will be hosted in the Laszlo Papp Sportarena where Hungarian fans are expected to create an exciting atmosphere at the venue with a capacity of 9,000 seats.

The tier below, Division I Group B, will be staged in Donetsk, Ukraine. Estonia withdrew its bid to host the event in Tallinn.

The venues of most of the top division events have already been known in advance. The 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will, as part of the two-year co-hosting agreement, be staged in Stockholm, Sweden, and Helsinki, Finland. But this time with Stockholm as the main venue, meaning that both semi-finals and both medal games will be played in the Swedish capital.

The next IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships:
Stockholm, Sweden & Helsinki, Finland, 3-19 May 2013
Minsk, Belarus, 9-25 May 2014
Prague & Ostrava, Czech Republic, 1-17 May 2015
Moscow & St. Petersburg, Russia, 29 April - 15 May 2016

The 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will be allocated at the 2013 IIHF Annual Congress in Stockholm following a thorough research on the co-hosting of the event. The applicants are: Denmark, France, Germany, Latvia.

Both junior categories will play for world titles next year in Russia as the U20 World Championship takes place in Ufa and the U18 World Championship will provide a first major test for the new arenas in Sochi that are being built for the 2014 Olympics. The dates for the U18 World Championship are one week later than originally foreseen, 18-28 April.

The 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship will be staged in the Canadian capital of Ottawa and the U18 Women’s World Championship will be hosted at ice rinks to be determined in the area of Vierumäki, Finland.

In the lower divisions it is to be noted that Georgia has entered a team to participate in the World Championship program for the first time. The country in the Caucasus region joined the IIHF in 2009. Its national team has played one international game so far, an exhibition against neighbouring country Armenia in 2010.

The United Arab Emirates will be back in the program after having appeared in only one event so far, back in 2010. They entered men’s and U20 national teams and will also host one event.

The 2012/2013 season will provide more tournaments than usual because of the Olympic Qualification. 34 countries have entered either men’s and/or women’s national teams for the 2014 Olympics, but only 12 men’s teams and eight women’s teams will make it all the way to Sochi.

The top-9 men’s teams – Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Canada, USA, Slovakia, Norway, Switzerland – and the top-6 women’s teams – Canada, United States, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia – according to the 2012 IIHF World Rankings are already pre-qualified while the other teams play it out for the remaining Olympic slots in qualification tournaments.

As opposed to the World Championship program, the hosts for the Olympic Qualification are not selected by vote because the top-seeded team of each tournament has earned the right to host the event. That benefit was exercised in most cases.

MARTIN MERK

Overview of tournaments

Note, the list below is as of 18 May 2012. Dates, venues and participants are subject to change.

Click here for updated lists: World Championship, Olympic Qualification

World Championships – Men’s Category

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship
In Stockholm (Sweden) & Helsinki (Finland), 3-19 May 2013
Participants: Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Canada, USA, Slovakia, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, Denmark, Belarus, France, Austria, Slovenia.

Note: the seeding and groups will be known after this year’s gold medal game.

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A
In Budapest (Hungary), 14-20 April 2013
Participants: Italy, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Japan, Great Britain, Korea

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group B
In Donetsk (Ukraine), 15-21 April 2013
Participants: Ukraine, Poland, Netherlands, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A
In Zagreb (Croatia), 7-13 April 2013
Participants: Australia, Spain, Croatia, Iceland, Serbia, Belgium

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group B
In Istanbul or Izmit (Turkey), 21-27 April 2013
Participants: New Zealand, China, Bulgaria, Mexico, Israel, Turkey

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III
In Cape Town (South Africa), 15-21 April 2013
Participants: South Africa, DPR Korea, Luxembourg, Ireland + two qualifiers

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III Qualification
In the United Arab Emirates, 14-17 October 2012
Participants: Greece, Mongolia, United Arab Emirates, Georgia

World Championships – U20 category

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship
In Ufa (Russia), 26 December 2012 - 5 January 2013
Group A: Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Latvia
Group B: Russia, Canada, Slovakia, USA, Germany

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division I Group A
In Amiens (France), 9-15 December 2012
Participants: Denmark, Belarus, Norway, Slovenia, Austria, France

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division I Group B
In Donetsk (Ukraine), 10-16 December 2012
Participants: Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Italy, Poland, Croatia, Ukraine

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II Group A
In Brasov (Romania), 15-21 December 2012
Participants: Japan, Lithuania, Hungary, Spain, Netherlands, Romania

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II Group B
In Novi Sad or Belgrade (Serbia), 12-18 January 2013
Participants: Korea, Estonia, Serbia, Belgium, Australia, Iceland

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III
In Sofia (Bulgaria), 14-20 January 2013
Participants: Mexico, China, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates

World Championships – U18 category

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship
In Sochi (Russia), 18-28 April 2013
Group A: USA, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Latvia
Group B: Sweden, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I Group A
In Asiago (Italy), 7-13 April 2013
Participants: Denmark, Norway, Italy, France, Slovenia, Belarus

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I Group B
In Tychy (Poland), 14-20 April 2013
Participants: Japan, Kazakhstan, Austria, Ukraine, Poland, Korea

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group A
In Tallinn (Estonia), 31 March - 6 April 2013
Participants: Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Great Britain, Croatia, Estonia

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group B
In Novi Sad or Belgrade (Serbia), 9-15 March 2013
Participants: Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Iceland, Australia, Belgium

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division III Group A
In Taipei City (Chinese Taipei), 11-17 March 2013
Participants: China, New Zealand, Mexico, Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division III Group B
In Izmit (Turkey), 2-9 February 2013
Participants: Turkey, South Africa, Israel, Ireland

World Championships – Women’s category

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship
In Ottawa (Canada), 2-9 April 2012
Group A: Canada, USA, Switzerland, Finland
Group B: Sweden, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic
(Note: Groups A/B are two tiers opposed to the horizontal format in other top division events.)

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group A
In Stavanger (Norway), 7-13 April 2013
Participants: Slovakia, Norway, Japan, Austria, Latvia, Denmark

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group B
In Strasbourg or Rouen (France), 8-14 April 2013
Participants: Kazakhstan, China, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, DPR Korea

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division II Group A
In Auckland (New Zealand), 8-14 April 2013
Participants: Italy, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Poland

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division II Group B
In Logroño or Jaca (Spain), March/April 2013
Participants: Croatia, Spain, Korea, Iceland, Belgium, South Africa

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division II Group B Qualification
In Izmir (Turkey), 1-8 December 2012
Participants: Bulgaria, Ireland, Turkey

World Championships – U18 Women’s category

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship
In the Vierumäki area (Finland), Dec. 2012 / Jan. 2013
Group A: Canada, Germany, Finland, Hungary
Group B: USA, Sweden, Czech Republic, Russia

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division I
In Romanshorn (Switzerland), 2-8 January 2013
Participants: Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Norway + two qualifiers

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Qualification
In Hull (Great Britain), 29 October - 3 November 2012
Participants: Great Britain, Slovakia, China, Italy, France, Kazakhstan

Olympic Games – Men’s category

2014 Olympic Winter Games
In Sochi, Russia, 7-23 February 2014
Participants: Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Canada, USA, Slovakia, Norway, Switzerland + three qualifiers

Final Olympic Qualification, 7-10 February 2013
Group D in Germany: Germany, Austria, Italy + qualifier
Group E in Riga, Latvia: Latvia, France, Kazakshtan + qualifier
Group F in Denmark: Denmark, Belarus, Slovania + qualifier

Olympic Pre-Qualification, 8-11 November 2012
Group G in Budapest, Hungary: Hungary, Netherlands, Lithuania + qualifier
Group H in Kyiv, Ukraine: Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Spain
Group J in TBA: Great Britain, Japan, Romania, Korea

Olympic Preliminary Qualification, Sep./Oct. 2012
Group K in Croatia: Croatia, Serbia, Mexico, Israel

Olympic Games – Women’s category

2014 Olympic Winter Games
In Sochi, Russia, 7-23 February 2014
Group A: Canada, USA, Finland, Switzerland
Group B: Sweden, Russia + two qualifiers

Final Olympic Qualification, 7-10 February 2013
Group C in Bratislava, Slovakia: Slovakia, Norway, Japan + qualifier
Group D in Germany: Germany, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic + qualifier

Olympic Pre-Qualification, 8-11 November 2012
Group E in Shanghai, China: China, France, Great Britain + qualifier
Group F in Latvia: Latvia, Austria, Italy + qualifier

Olympic Preliminary Qualification, Sep./Oct. 2012
Group G in Barcelona, Spain: Denmark, Croatia, Hungary, Spain
Group H in Katowice/Krakow, Poland: Slovenia, Netherlands, Korea, Poland

Note: The hosts and dates of other tournaments such as the Continental Cup, European Women's Champions Cup, Challenge Cup of Asia and the InLine Hockey World Championship of the 2012/2013 season will be determined at a later date.