In May, Russia was named as the host nation for the event during the IIHF Annual Congress.

Since then, discussions have taken place to determine the venue in the European nation which will stage the matches.

These have led to the Sport Complex in Dmitrov, which has a capacity of 2,500 in its main ice rink, being put forward as the host venue.

It has also been proposed that the eight-team tournament will be held between January 6 and 13, pending formal approval at the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress next month.

Dmitrov has a population of 67,000 and is located about 80 kilometres north of Russian capital Moscow.

The town has a strong association with women’s ice hockey.

Tornado Moscow Region are based in the town and have won four European Women's Champions Cups along with nine national championships, including the last three in row.

The Sport Complex has previous hosted the 2011 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship Division I, where Russia earned promotion to top level of the competition.

Along with the hosts, the United States, Canada and Sweden will play in Group A of the tournament.

The top two teams from this group will receive a bye to the semi-finals.

The teams who come third and fourth will play-off with the top two from Group B, featuring Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Germany.

Last year's competition was won in the Czech Republic by the US for the third consecutive time.