The tournament is scheduled to take place between May 21 and June 6 next year, following date changes being approved by the IIHF. 

Competition had initially been earmarked for May 7 to 23, but the event has been pushed back by two weeks due to delays to the start of national leagues in Europe and North America.

This came as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Numerous sporting events are currently taking place without spectators because of concerns over the pandemic.

Savilov hopes World Championship organisers will be in a position to begin ticket sales for next year’s event this September.

"We plan to start selling tickets in early September," Savilov said, according to the state controlled Belarusian Telegraph Agency. 

"We are working closely on this.

"We are happy with the way the teams were drawn.

"Minsk will host the teams which we wanted to see here."

The Minsk Arena is due to serve as the main venue for the tournament.

The venue will host Group A, two quarter-final games, both semi-finals and the medal games.

Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Belarus and Britain are set to compete in Group A in Minsk.

Reigning champions Finland will be joined by 2019 runners-up in Canada in Group B in Riga, along with the United States, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Italy and Kazakhstan.

The Riga Arena are set to host Group B matches and two quarter-finals.

Belarus and Latvia were jointly awarded the tournament in 2017.

This year’s World Championships in Switzerland was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.