ZURICH/KYIV – The International Ice Hockey Federation has approved a request from the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine to move the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I Group B from Odessa to the capital of Kyiv.

The Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine originally planned to host the event at the country’s biggest city at the Black Sea. However, the reconstruction of the Odessa Sports Palace will take longer than foreseen after defects at the building have been discovered.

The Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports therefore applied to transfer the event to the capital of Kyiv where it will take place in the 7,000-seat Palace of Sports in the city centre, which hosted the men’s national teams during the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A.

The event will be played from 14-20 April 2018 according to the same schedule. The tournament includes Hungary, Austria, Japan, Italy, Ukraine and Romania.

MARTIN MERK