The International Ice Hockey Federation has received two co-hosting bids for the 2017 world championships, from Germany-France and Denmark-Latvia.
The IIHF says it will decide the winner in May at its annual congress in Stockholm.
Germany staged the 2010 worlds alone, when more than 77,000 spectators saw the opening match in Gelsenkirchen. The hosts beat the United States in overtime.
The Germany-France bid proposes to use the Lanxess Arena in Cologne and Bercy in Paris.
Latvia, which hosted the 2006 worlds, would stage matches in Arena Riga and Denmark in the planned Copenhagen Arena.
