It will be the first visit for Bach to the event, due to begin in Königssee in Germany tomorrow,as IOC President.

He had last attended the competition as vice-president of the IOC in 2012.

Bach will arrive at the artificial track tomorrow before departing on Sunday (January 31).

Merkel, meanwhile, will act as a patron for the Championships, due to feature around 140 athletes from 24 countries.

FIL sports director Maria Luise has confirmed this will be made up of 44 men, 41 women and 27 doubles pairings.

Alongside the first day of sporting action, an Opening Ceremony will be staged at the Weihnachtschützenplatz in Berchtesgaden, a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps.

A range of activities outside of the competition on the artificial track, located at the foot of the Watzmann Mountain, are also scheduled to be held for visitors of all ages.

This year’s World Championships will have a record seven titles up for grabs, including the debut of the sprint discipline.

Two-time Olympic singles champion Felix Loch, who endured a difficult start to the FIL World Cup season before recovering to go into the event on home ice at the summit of the overall leaderboard, remains the favourite for the men’s event.

The 26-year-old has claimed the World Championships crown on four occasions, in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013 but was denied victory at last year’s event in Sigulda in Latvia by Russian luger Semen Pavlichenko.

Sochi 2014 champion Natalie Geisenberger, also of Germany, will be the one to beat in the women’s singles competition as she will bid to defend the title she earned in 2015.

Geisenberger, whose success in Sigulda gave her a second World Championships singles gold medal, had also suffered a torrid opening to the World Cup campaign but has seemingly found her form at the right time.