MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. The Russian West Siberian city of Novosibirsk has high chances of being awarded with the right to host the Under-20 World Ice Hockey Championship in 2023, Rene Fasel, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), told TASS on Thursday.

The Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) submitted its bid on Thursday to host the U20 Ice Hockey World Championship in 2022 or in 2023.

Fasel said in case Russia was granted the right to host the Youth World Championship it can be only in 2023.

Sweden will be celebrating 100th anniversary of its national ice hockey in 2022, Fasel said, and it would be wrong to give the right for hosting the championship to any other country besides Sweden.

The IIHF president added that the city of Novosibirsk is capable of hosting the championship and its time zone location, which is GMT +6, will not be a problem.

The IIHF Youth Ice Hockey World Championships, for players of age under 20, have been held annually since 1977.

Canada and Russia (including the Soviet era team) each won a total of 16 championships. They are followed in the second place by Finland with four golds and the United States with three golds.

Sweden hosted IIHF Youth World Championships six times - in 1979, 1984, 1993, 2000, 2007 and 2014).