The 2017 IIHF World Championship organisers revealed a temporary ice hockey rink would be installed at the Eiffel Tower ©IIHF

A temporary ice hockey rink will be installed on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to allow fans to try the sport for free ahead of France co-hosting the 2017 World Championships, it has been announced.

The facility, which will be open from mid-December until mid-February of next year, will be located 57 metres above the city of Paris, which is bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A range of activities will be on offer at the rink, with organisers providing skates and all the required equipment.

It is set to provide a stunning and iconic location for people to play the sport as the Organising Committee attempts to ramp up enthusiasm for ice hockey among the French population.

The news was confirmed by Anne Yannic, chief executive of the Eiffel Tower Operating Company, during a 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships press conference in the French capital.

During the gathering of various officials from the Organising Committee, including President and IIHF Council member Franz Reindl, attendees spoke on how important staging such events is for the development of the local community.

The rink at the world-famous Eiffel Tower will be available for use between mid-December 2016 and mid-February 2017 ©Getty Images
The rink at the world-famous Eiffel Tower will be available for use between mid-December 2016 and mid-February 2017 ©Getty Images

It has also been revealed that 30 per cent of tickets available for the event, which is being co-hosted by Paris and Cologne in Germany, have already been snapped up.

France and Germany - two nations who have endured a huge rivalry both in a historic and a sporting sense – will come together to host games at Cologne’s Lanxess Arena and the recently refurbished AccorHotels Arena in Paris.

The group phase and quarter-final games will be shared between the two host cities, while the final stages will be in Cologne.

The two venues offer a total of 886,000 tickets for the 64 games, an Ice Hockey World Championship record.

The tournament begins on May 5, with preliminary round action coming to a close on May 16.

Bronze and gold medal games take place in the German city on May 21.

The World Championship's Group A in Cologne consists of Russia, the United States, Sweden, Slovakia, Germany, Latvia, Denmark and Italy.

Group B in Paris includes world number one Canada, Finland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belarus, Norway, France and Slovenia.

Thirty-four games will be played in Cologne, which will be the main venue for the competition.

The AccorHotels Arena in Paris will host 30 games, including two quarter-finals.

The cities of Cologne and Paris are interlinked by the Thalys bullet train, with a trip between both taking just over three hours.