Vladimir Matienko, President of the Irkutsk Region Bandy Federation, told Russia's official state news agency TASS that Sweden – runners-up at the last two World Championships – and Germany had pulled out of the event.

The United States have also reportedly decided not to travel to Russia for the competition in Irkutsk, scheduled to run from October 5 to 11.

The development casts fresh doubt on the Bandy World Championship being staged as planned.

Only five teams – hosts Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland, Estonia and Norway – remain following the three withdrawals.

Matienko also said it is "unlikely" that the tournament will be held next month.

"Official letters from the Swedish and German Federations came – because of the closed borders with Russia and the difficult epidemiological situation, their teams will not be able to come to the World Championships in October," Matienko said.

The final decision on the event rests with the Federation of International Bandy, which said last month that it was "doing everything possible" to ensure the World Championship goes ahead.

Irkutsk, one of the largest cities in Siberia, had been scheduled to host from March 29 to April 5 before the global health crisis prompted the move to later in the year.