On April 27, 2018, Gerhard Lichtnecker was again appointed referee chairman of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) and is now entering his fourth term in office, which will last until 2022. Gerhard Lichtnecker was appointed referee chairman for the first time in 2006 DEB .
Gerhard Lichtnecker: “In my first election as referee chairman DEB On April 01, 2006, I still believed it was an April Fool's joke when Franz Reindl persuaded me to take on this new challenge for me. I have now completed my third term in office and look back on it with joy and pride. With the previous SRA members there were important and groundbreaking advances in refereeing, which we developed and implemented together and some of which were also copied internationally. The cooperation with the LEV referees was intensified and aligned with the requirements of the DEB adjusted."
The young talent promotion with many young talents has proven itself not only nationally but also internationally. In recent years, all IIHF top tournaments have been staffed with German referees every season. Many officiated gold medal games were the success of the entire team of referees! The trust of DEB in my work has now encouraged me to approach another four-year term as chairman in a new and committed manner. The unanimous election as the new referee chairman encourages me even more for the next four years. With the referee committee and an extended working group behind us as well as further exemplary cooperation with the DEB-Presidium, the employees of the office and the league managers, I will in turn work hard to further improve the reputation of the referees in public, to recruit new referees from the clubs and to maintain them at a very high level of performance nationally and internationally. At this point I would like to expressly thank the entire ice hockey family for the trust placed in me, in particular the members of my previous committee and the referees as well as the DEB-President Franz Reindl, thank you.