The Slovak national team was created after Czechoslovakia was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For years, the Czechs kept control over how the Czechoslovakian national team was run, and limited how many Slovak players were on the team. When the country became two, the Czech Republic team was allowed to compete at the highest pool (A), and the IIHF ruled that because fewer players of the former Czechoslovak team were Slovaks, Slovakia have to start international play in pool C, the lowest group. However, Slovakia's play in the lower pools won it promotion to pool A by 1996.