In a statement released by the IIHF today, Russia and Belarus will not participate in the 2024/2025 IIHF championship season.

This decision will also apply to the Belarusian team, which is denied the chance to compete in the final Olympic Qualification Round.

In the resultant shake-up, there has been a significant development in the groups.
The task now facing Great Britain has been made slightly less taxing, albeit marginally.

Group D
Slovakia
Kazakhstan
Austria
Hungary

Group E
Latvia
France
Slovenia
Ukraine

Group F
Denmark
Norway
Great Britain
Japan

Hungary is the big winner of the IIHF decision. They advance to this stage because they own the best record of any nation to finish second in the previous round.

Japan upset the odds by finishing top of the group that Hungary hosted, despite being ranked six places in the world below them.

Japan not only represents a slightly easier task in terms of the quality of the group, but their inclusion does more to help Great Britain than you might imagine.

No longer the lowest seeds in the group, Great Britain will not have the face hosts and top seeds Denmark in game one.
Avoiding the hosts in the opening game provides a significant boost to GB’s chances of qualification.

The running order of opposition for Great Britain will consist of Norway, Denmark and Japan, with the tournament held from 29th August to 1st September 2024.

It’s set to be hosted in the city of Aalborg, as previously reported, but that, along with the venue, is still to be officially confirmed by the IIHF and the Danish Ice Hockey Federation.

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