Andrei Sidorenko has been re-appointed as head coach of the Belarus ice hockey team ©IIHF

Belarus, relegated at the recent International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships, have re-appointed Andrei Sidorenko as their men's head coach.

Sidorenko, who was the first Belarusian national team coach in the 1990s, replaces Dave Lewis and Sergei Pushkov, who coached the team as they dropped out of the top level of the sport for the first time in 15 years in May.

The former national coach was among a number of new appointments announced by the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association's Executive Committee, which is itself under new leadership.

The 59-year-old former player will sign a one-year contract with an option for an extension.

Belarus, due to co-host the World Championship with Latvia in 2021, are aiming at immediate promotion back to the top division.

The Belarusians will play the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A in Astana against South Korea, hosts Kazakhstan, Hungary, Slovenia and Lithuania, with the top-two teams earning promotion for the 2020 Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland.

The Belarus men's ice hockey team, relegated from the top level of the world game following this year's IIHF World Championships, are seeking to bounce straight back ahead of co-hosting the 2021 World Championships ©Getty Images
The Belarus men's ice hockey team, relegated from the top level of the world game following this year's IIHF World Championships, are seeking to bounce straight back ahead of co-hosting the 2021 World Championships ©Getty Images  

"It was important to have a clear understanding about realistic tasks for the coach: the return of the national team to the elite, succeeding in the Olympic qualification and an honourable performance at the home-ice World Championship in 2021," said Gennadi Savilov, the new President of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association.

Sidorenko was selected from a group of applicants that also included Alexander Andrievski and Eduard Zankovets as main candidates.

Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Belarus started in 1994 in the World Championship C-Pool and under Sidorenko moved up to the B-Pool for 1996, his third and last season as national team coach in that era.

In the 1995-1996 season he also coached the under-20 national team.

Sidorenko was born in the Chelyabinsk region where he started his career in the Soviet league.

He also represented the Soviet Union in the 1979 World Juniors where the team won gold.

Later he moved to Minsk as a player and started as a coach when retiring as a player in 1992.

He coached several club teams in Belarus during his career including Dynamo Minsk, Tivali Minsk, Khimik Novopolotsk and HK Gomel.