Austria will feature in the eight-team Division B event ©IWRF

Nottwil and Lignano Sabbiadoro have been announced as the hosts of the first two stages of the next edition of the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF) European Championships.

Lignano Sabbiadoro has been selected by the governing body to stage Division C of the Championship, with the Italian town scheduled to host the competition from June 13 to 20.

It marks the first time that Italy will stage an IWRF Championship and will also see the Israeli team make their debut at a European Championship.

The host nation will seek to see off the challenge of Israel, Norway and Russia in the four-team event, with the top two teams qualifying for Division B competition this year.

Division B will be held in Nottwil between October 3 and 10, with eight teams due to be in action in Switzerland.

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland and Poland are already assured of places in the tournament and will await the top two finishes from Division C.

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Finland will seek an instant return to European Championship Division A ©IWRF

Having been relegated from Division A, after finishing in the bottom two positions at the 2015 edition of the event, both Belgium and Finland will be seeking an instant return by finishing in the promotion positions.

Finland will be led by their new coaching set-up of Jussi Immonen and Osku Kuutamo, appointed as head coach and assistant respectively in February.

The promoted teams will compete at the 2017 IWRF European Championship Division A event, which will act as a qualifier to the 2018 World Championship.

The IWRF have revealed that the Division C draw will be conducted later this month, while the Division B schedule due to be decided after the two promoted teams are known.