MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) is set to file an appeal against a decision of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to cancel the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship in Russia, RHF First Deputy Executive Director Alexander Kiknadze said on Wednesday.

"The RHF intends to appeal the decision [of the IIHF]," Kiknadze told journalists. "The appeal will be submitted within the required timeframe."

The IIHF announced on Tuesday a decision to cancel its previously scheduled 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship in Russia’s Saint Petersburg. The global organization also canceled earlier the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, scheduled to be hosted by the Russian cities of Novosibirsk and Omsk.

Kiknadze also said that the IIHF Disciplinary Committee will convene for a meeting on May 3 to discuss an appeal from the RHF on the previously announced decision to suspend players of Russian national ice hockey teams from international tournaments.

"A meeting on the suspension of our [national] teams and on the cancellation of the [IIHF] World Junior Championship is scheduled for May 3," the Russian hockey official added.

On February 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments referring to a special military operation in Ukraine.

Following the IOC recommendations in late February, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

IIHF’s previously planned tournaments in Russia

In September 2018, the Russian city of St. Petersburg was chosen by the IIHF management to host the world championship in 2023, scheduling the dates on May 5-21. The May 2019 IIHF Congress in Bratislava greenlighted this decision.

The Russian bid offered up two arenas in St. Petersburg to host the matches of the ice hockey world championship in 2023. One of them is currently under construction and once completed it may become the biggest ice arena in Europe with capacity seating ranging between 21,500 and 23,000.

The other arena in St. Petersburg will be the Ice Palace, which is currently the home stadium for KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg club and boasts an over 12,300-seat capacity.

The world’s governing body of ice hockey also announced in 2018 that the Siberian cities of Novosibirsk and Omsk would be the venues for matches of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship (December 26, 2022 - January 5, 2023).