The Oslo Winter Olympics are the only time that bandy has been a demonstration sport at the Olympics, although in 2001, bandy became an IOC Recognized Sport, so there is some push to have bandy included on the Winter Olympics Program in the future. Bandy is primarily a Scandanavian sport that is a combination of ice hockey and football (soccer). Like ice hockey, the game is played on skates and with a stick, but it is played with a ball on an outdoor rink the size of a football pitch, and with 11 players a side and 45 minutes per half – like football. World Championships in bandy were first held in 1957, again in 1961, and then every two years until 2003, at which time the event became an annual one.