Da Rin, who held the position since Para ice hockey was introduced to the programme at the Turin 2006 Winter Paralympics, has stepped down.

Meanwhile, Norway has also announced a change to its Para ice hockey head coach with the arrival of Ken Babey, who held that position with the Canadian team from 2015 to 2022.

During his 17 years in charge, Da Rin has led Italy to five Paralympic appearances, two top-five finishes at the World Championships and a European title in 2011.

Bianchi, who grew up playing in Italian hockey leagues and has been an assistant coach for Italy's national Para ice hockey team since 2016, commented:

"I am happy with this opportunity that FISG has offered me and I will do my best.

"I know the group and the other teams well.

"[Da Rin] has brought great professionalism within the team which had led to incredible results.

"I owe a lot to him from a professional and personal point of view.

"He has taught me a lot and has always supported me.

"I have enormous respect for him, and I sincerely hope to be up to par with his coaching and to bring improvements to the group."

Babey coached Canada to a World Championships gold medal in 2017, and Paralympic silver medals in 2018 and 2022, as well as a spot in the gold-medal game in all the World Championships during his seven-year tenure.

The change comes after Norway's failure to qualify for the Winter Paralympics this year for the first time in history,

"Both players and coaches are very positive and enthusiastic about this move, and we have confidence that Ken will inspire and motivate our players to become better versions of themselves both on and off the ice," said Espen Hegde, head of sport at the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation and former national coach of Team Norway.

"This is without a doubt a major investment for us, and we hope this will attract attention around us and show how aggressive we are towards the future."

In addition to coaching Para ice hockey, Babey spent 27 years as the head coach of the men's hockey team at the Southern Albert Institute of Technology, winning 534 games, nine conference titles and one national title there.