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The puck goes CENTROPE: Slovakia to host the Ice Hockey World Championship
CENTROPE will be at the centre of one of the biggest sport events this year, as Slovakia will host between 29 April and 15 May 2011 the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship.
The best ice hockey nations are attending the tournament, among them Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In particular the latter two enjoy all chances to win the trophy, with the Czech Republic defending the title from last year’s championship. The second league, so-called “Division I”, will hold its championship in Hungary and Ukraine immediately before, from 17 to 23 April and with participation of the Hungarian team.
The World Championship will take place in the Bratislava Ondrej Nepela Arena (main venue) and the Košice Ladislav Trojak Arena. The stadiums have a capacity of 10,000 and 8,347 visitors respectively and represent two of the most modern ice hockey facilities in the region, thanks to massive remodeling. Moreover, the Ladislav Trojak Arena in Košice is Slovakia’s only multifunctional arena, only seven minutes by foot from the town centre. The organizers expect around 350,000 visitors, which is slightly less than during last year’s Championship in Germany but still demands enormous investment in financial and human resources. The City of Bratislava has invested nearly a quarter million Euros for the preparation of the event.
The event will be a great opportunity not only for the ice hockey fans: the two host cities are an interesting cultural destination, Bratislava being the capital of Slovakia and Košice the future European Capital of Culture in 2013. The Ice Hockey World Championship brings people from all over the world to the region and is therefore also an opportunity for the CENTROPE partner regions to attract visitors. For Slovakia, it is definitely the biggest event it has ever hosted since its inception in 1993.
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