MINSK, July 30 -- Belarus must return to the world's elite hockey next year, Andrei Sidorenko, new head of the national team, told local media on Monday.

The coach said that he intends to attract all the best Belarusian hockey players to the team in order to fulfill the task.

He said he needs to "build" the team. "We want to attract players, follow everyone, but we will take into account both experienced and young people," he added.

In May 2018, Belarus lost its place in the elite division of the IIHF World Championship, placing 15th in Denmark.

Next season the Belarusians will have to compete for one of the two berths in the elite. The tournament will take place in the Kazakhstan capital Astana from April 29 to May 5 in 2019.

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