Away from the ice: next day of joy for ice hockey Germany

More successful than ever at the current World Cup in Finland and now also the contract for the 2027 World Cup: Things are going well for Germany's ice hockey sport. The DEB was awarded the major tournament this Friday.

26 May 2023

From: dpa/fop

In the vote on Friday in Tampere, Finland, the decision was clearly in favor of the German application with the venues Mannheim and Düsseldorf. 102, or 75 percent, of the votes went to the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB), only 34, or 25 percent, went to Kazakhstan as the only competitor. “This is a milestone for the DEB,” said DEB President Peter Merten.

After the surprising semi-finals with the chance of winning the first German World Cup medal in 70 years at the current World Championships in Latvia and Finland, the decision for the DEB is the next good news. The surcharge is also financially necessary in order to be able to implement all sporting reforms in the future.

Mannheim and Düsseldorf as venues

Germany was considered the favorite to host the World Cup in four years, and on Thursday the two possible hosts presented their concepts at the World Association Congress. It is still unclear whether the opening game will take place in a football stadium, as was the case at the 2010 home World Cup. 13 years ago, around 78.000 spectators came to Schalke for the opening World Cup game between Germany and the USA (2-1 after extra time).

Germany last hosted a World Cup together with France in 2017. In 2024 the World Cup will take place in the Czech Republic with the venues Prague and Ostrava, in 2025 the World Cup will be held in Sweden and Denmark with the venues Stockholm and Herning. Switzerland will host the 2026 World Cup.

In addition to Germany, Italy was also able to celebrate on the sidelines of the IIHF Congress on Friday: Bolzano was awarded the B-WM 2024 (click here for the report).