In 100 days the historic elite 2011 IIHF World Championship starts in two Slovak cities – Bratislava and Košice (29.4.-15.5.2011) - an event which should be watched by some 350 000 spectators and a further 600 000 000 television viewers around the planet.
The Organizing Committee currently features ten full time workers and a further fifteen part time workers. “If we had been working at full steam until the end of the year, since January we have been in overdrive. All the responsible staff in the team have been doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. We are finishing up the transport plans, in Bratislava we have signed the guest contract with the city, in Košice the same is set to happen soon. We are preparing joint activities with both cities and the Slovak tourism boar.,” said Igor Nemeček - OC Chairman of the 2011 IIHF World Championship. “On the first of February we are starting the third phase of ticket sales - meaning people will be able to buy tickets for individual games. We have concluded press accreditation, we are looking at logistics and the hall equipment which we are going to rent from the 10th of April 2011.” added Igor Nemeček, referring to only a fraction of the tasks the Organizing Committee currently has underway.
“In addition to preparations for the championship itself, the first big test awaits us – February’s Slovakia Cup, which is being managed by our team in collaboration with the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. The Ondrej Nepela arena is to be in partial operation – which is yet another challenge for the organisers.” said LOC Chairman Bratislava Ľubomír Lenár.
As is usual prior to the 2011 IIHF World Championship, inspection teams from numerous countries have visited both venues. “The Fins, Germans and Slovenians have visited Bratislava so far. They were all satisfied,” added Ľubomír Lenár, who accompanied the national federation officials on their visits.
In Košice the Steel arena and accommodation were inspected by the Belarus and Swiss officials as well as the Norwegians only last week. “ We are very happy that the representatives of all the teams which have so far visited Košice were fully satisfied with both the above-standard halls and hotels.” Stated LOC Chairman Košice Petr Handl – who is expecting a visit form France next week and from the United States in February.
The Organizing Committee also promotes the championship internationally. The press conference tour has so far been held in front of reporters at seven venues – twice in Munich (with the first being during the 2010 championship), Prague, Helsinki, Herisau, Porto Rosa and recently in Brno.
There is of course enormous interest in the championship in Slovakia from on the other side of the Morava river – something evident in the mass interest in the Brno Go-Regiontour conference shown by the Czech media. “We were very pleasantly surprised at the interest shown by the Czech media in the 2011 IIHF World Championship presentation at the Brno event. There were around 70 Czech journalists present at the press conference who were particularly interested in everything concerning the Czech team in the championship,” stated Head of communication Michaela Grendelová after the press conference.
More photos on Facebook page.
INTERESTING FACTS AND FIGURES:
- Ticket sales up until 18.1.2011– 190 000
- Ticket sales for individual games start 1.2.2011
- Tickets are available from official page and www.ticketportal.sk
- Volunteers – by the end of January volunteers shall receive notice as to whether they have been selected In total 700 volunteers are needed (Bratislava 400, Košice 300)
- Average age of applicants: 25.5
- Almost 58 percent of the registered applicants are between the ages of 18 and 25.
- Applicants from other countries interested in volunteer work: Germany: 12, Canada: 11, The Czech Republic: 10 Turkey: 1, USA: 1, Poland: 1
- First volunteer workshop: last week of February.
