For the first time in the tournament’s history, there will be 11 teams in the 2023 World Junior Championships after the International Football Association (IIHF) announced that there would be no replay in Canada this year.
This step was taken in response to concerns about Covid-19. The International Football Association (IIHF) has announced that Austria, one of the teams to be relegated, is in quarantine for a positive COVID-19 case before the start of the tournament.
There was no dropout in the 2021 championship either, but no team was promoted.
Belarus, which won the World Junior Championship in the 2022 Division, was promoted to 2023 and will be the 11th team in Russia. The tournament format has not yet been released, except for the goal of returning 10 teams to Sweden in 2024.
According to the IIHF version, “The task of coordinating and scheduling 11 teams is entrusted to the IIHF Competition Committee as the task of restructuring the lower divisions of the IIHF Hockey U20 World Cup program.”
The number of teams is a logistical challenge that can be solved by adding a team of 12 people and forming three to four groups, for example at the Winter Olympics. Latvia took second place in the IA Division tournament earlier this month.
