First meeting of the Honorary Committee of the 2017 IIHF World Championships
Cologne, September 01st, 2016 – Cologne and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia are committing early to the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, which will take place from May 5th to 21st next year in Cologne and Paris. For this purpose, a 2017 IIHF World Cup Honorary Committee has been founded made up of representatives from the federal, state, city, business and local politics. The main task of the committee is to actively represent the 2017 IIHF World Cup in politics, business, the media and the public and in the respective contact circles to provide intensive advocacy. The committee also deals with all important aspects of the tournament that involve public bodies, e.g. B. Security, transport, traffic and advertising.
Members of the committee include Federal Minister of the Interior Dr. Thomas de Maizière, represented by Ministerial Director and Head of the Sports Department in the Federal Ministry of the Interior Gerhard Böhm, Cologne's Mayor Henriette Reker, North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of Sports Christina Kampmann, Head of the Sports Department in the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Sports Bernhard Schwank and Stefan Löcher, Managing Director of the "LANXESS arena", in which the 34 World Cup games will take place in Cologne.
Franz Reindl, President of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB), and OK Secretary General Henner Ziegfeld on Monday of this week in Cologne with the members called for a first meeting. Reindl reported that the discussions were very positive. “Everyone was emotional about it. The support is huge. Cologne and we as an association want to give a great business card.”
As Cologne, with its Lanxess Arena, will be hosting the World Cup for the third time after 2001 and 2010, the city already has World Cup experience. What is new, however, is the German-French cooperation, which Cologne's mayor Reker is enthusiastic about. "It is a sign for Europe when Germany and France host such a big event together," she said. "We will present ourselves as a cosmopolitan host." Stefan Löcher, Arena manager and head of the local organizing committee, sees the tournament as an opportunity to bring other major events to Cologne. His motto: "The better you present yourself, the greater the opportunities."
The Honorary Committee for the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will meet for further meetings until the start of the World Cup on May 5, 2017.