The tournament will be held in the Danish cities of Copenhagen and Herning.

Denmark's bid defeated that of Latvia by a considerable margin, with the IIHF voting 95-12 in favour of the Danes.

It will be the first time Denmark has hosted the event.

"This is an important victory for Danish ice hockey both sporting and organisational wise," said Henrik Bach Nielsen, President of Danish Ice Hockey Association.

"After 12 years in the A-group it is now Denmark's turn to host the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships together with Sport Event Denmark, Herning and Copenhagen.

"Now we can get down to work - we are so ready!"

The 17-day tournament will see its 64 games split between the Jyske Bank Boxen rink in Herning and the yet-to-be-built Royal Arena in Copenhagen.

Denmark's men's national ice hockey team is currently 13th in the IIHF world rankings and has participated in the World Championship for 12 consecutive years ©Getty Images















































Denmark and Latvia had previously launched a joint bid for the Championships in 2017, however, it was beaten by a joint bid by France and Germany.

The Danes also bid for the event in 2016, with the same two cities put forward to host the tournament.

That bid was defeated by Russia.

Following the decision in the Belarus capital, currently hosting the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championships, IIHF President René Fasel said: "Congratulations Denmark!

"You had a very strong bid already last year against a strong competitor.

"I'm surprised though that the difference in the votes was that big.

"But this is the charm of our Congress.

"The Congress decides exclusively.

"Denmark is a new market to us centrally in Europe.

"I hope we will have a party for all ice hockey fans in Denmark."

Next year, the World Championships are due to be held in the Czech Republic in the cities of Prague and Ostrava, while Moscow and St. Petersburg will host the event in 2016 when it is staged in Russia. 

France and Germany will co-host the event in 2017, before the Danes finally get their chance.

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