The winner of the tournament, due to be staged from February 9 to 12, will guarantee themselves a spot at the first-ever Winter Olympic Games to take place in South Korea.

Hosts Japan will compete for the prize against Germany, Austria and the top-seeded qualifier from the Olympic Qualification Preliminary Round. 

Action is due to take place at the Hakucho Oji Ice Arena, home of the Asia League’s Oji Eagles, which has a capacity of 4,015 supporters. 

The Final Olympic Qualification Group C event is due to take place in Arosa on the same four days in February 2017.

It will feature hosts Switzerland, the Sochi 2014 Olympic bronze medallists, as well as the Czech Republic, Denmark and the second qualifier from the Olympic Qualification Preliminary Round.

The respective victors of the two competitions will join the United States, Canada, Finland, Russia, Sweden and South Korea at Pyeongchang 2018. 

The countries all booked their place by finishing in the top five at the 2015 World Championships in Malmö, while South Korea qualified as hosts.

The build-up to the ice hockey tournaments at Pyeongchang 2018 has been dominated by ongoing discussions concerning the participation of National Hockey League (NHL) players in the men’s event.

Negotiations between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), NHL and IIHF continue to stall ahead of a reported deadline of January.

The main issue comes because the IOC were refusing to pay accommodation costs and insurance costs at Pyeongchang 2018.

This is something they had done on all five occasions NHL players have featured since their debut at Nagano 1998.