MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. Russia’s second largest city of Saint Petersburg will host in December the All-Star match of the Russian Kontinental League (KHL), the league’s press office announced on Thursday.

The match is scheduled to be played at the newly-built 21,500-seat capacity SKA-Arena on December 9-10.

The construction of the SKA-Arena started in 2020 as Russia was preparing to host the 2023 IIHF (the International Ice Hockey Federation) World Championship. After the construction was completed, the sports facility became one of the largest venues for ice hockey matches in the world capable of accommodating up to 21,500 spectators.

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

However, in April 2022, the IIHF announced a decision to cancel its previously scheduled 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship in St. Petersburg citing Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason. Thus, the 2023 KHL All-Star match this December will be the first grand event organized at the newly-built SKA-Arena.

The inaugural KHL’s All-Star match was also hosted by Saint Petersburg in 2011 at the Ice Palace, which serves as the home stadium for KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg club and boasts an over 12,300-seat capacity.

The Kontinental Hockey League was founded in Russia in 2008 and lists 23 professional ice hockey clubs, namely from Russia, Belarus, China and Kazakhstan.