In a week's time, the Ice Hockey World Championships will begin in Finland and Latvia.
One of the teams included there is Kazakhstan, who tonight begin their final build-up, by playing a tournament at home Astana.
"Good opponent"
Tonight they face Russia, and on Sunday Belarus. Two teams, which due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, are barred from participating in the World Championships, and all other IIHF tournaments.
"These are good opponents. For our boys, this will be a good test for the World Cup. It's always good to face good opponents. We will see our weaknesses and then be able to correct and improve it," Kazakhstan head coach Galym Mambeteliyev said on the Kazakh Ice Hockey Federation's website.
"Outside IIHF control"
The chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation, Anders Larsson, is a board member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and explains that they do not have the opportunity to influence which teams the World Cup participants play against in training matches.
"Which training matches different nations play before an international championship is beyond the IIHF's control," he says, but adds that it is not relevant for Tre Kronor or other Swedish national teams:
– For us in Swedish ice hockey, it is completely unthinkable in the current situation to play with our national teams against Russia or Belarus, and then also training matches.
The IIHF has decided that Russia and Belarus are barred from participating in international championships also in the 2023/24 season.