The IIHF World Championship is due to be held in Finland and Latvia next month having been moved from the Russian city of Saint-Petersburg because of the war in Ukraine.

Latvia, a former Soviet republic, has adopted one of the firmest stances opposing the involvement of Russia and Belarus in international sport since the start of the conflict.

Organising Committee chief executive Edgars Buncis has revealed that Belarusian national Skabelkas, who had been set to coach the Kazakh team at the World Championship, has been denied a visa to enter Latvia, as reported by Tvnet.

Two further members of the Kazakh coaching staff and service staff were also denied visas.

insidethegames has asked the IIHF for a comment.

Galym Mambetaliyev has been named as replacement head coach by the Kazakhstan Ice Hockey Federation.

Russia and Belarus remain unable to participate in IIHF events, which French President Luc Tardif has warned could remain the case until the end of the war in Ukraine.

Four players in the Kazakh team who held dual Russian citizenship were faced with a decision to pledge their allegiance to either Russia or Kazakhstan.

This was reportedly under fan pressure because dual citizenship is prohibited in Kazakhstan.

According to Kazakh publication Shaiba, striker Dmitry Gurkov is the only one of the four who have committed to playing for Kazakhstan at the World Championship.

Kazakhstan earned promotion back to the IIHF World Championship in 2019, and Moscow-born Gurkov has represented the country at the last two editions in 2021 and 2022.

He previously represented the country in the 2018, 2021 and 2022 editions.

Yegor Petukhov, Anton Sagadeyev and Alexei Maklyukov in contrast have all opted to renounce their Kazakh citizenship in favour of Russia.

Sagadeyev has represented Kazakhstan in ice hockey since 2009 at under-18 level, and he and Petukhov played at the last two World Championships.

Maklyukov played for Kazakhstan in the 2021 edition.

Sagadeyev is the only one of the three who was born in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan, who ranked 14th last year to narrowly escape relegation, are set to face Canada, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Olympic bronze medallists Slovakia, co-hosts Latvia, Norway and Slovenia in Group B of the World Championship at the Arena Riga in the Latvian capital.

The Nokia Arena in the Finnish city of Tampere is due to host Group A matches.

The IIHF World Championship is scheduled for May 12 to 28.