ZURICH – Two IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship events got a new venue following approval by the 2017 IIHF Semi-Annual Congress.

The 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III Qualification will take place in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia & Herzegovina that hosted the 1984 Olympic Winter Games, from 25th to 28th February 2018. Earlier the original host United Arab Emirates had withdrawn their application.

The lowest tier in the men’s senior World Championship category includes the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia & Herzegovina as well as the two newcomers Kuwait and Turkmenistan.

The 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group A that was previously awarded to France got a new venue within the country. The event will now take place in the French Alps in Vaujany.

Austria, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, France and Slovakia will play at the six-team event from 8th to 14th April. The winner will be promoted to the top division of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Finland, which will be the first to be played with ten teams.