Ice Hockey World Championship Arena Secured with $200m Loan
The group behind the Hala-Sazka Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, has informed the IIHF that it has received a bank loan equivalent of US$ 200 million, which secures the construction of the multi-purpose arena, which will be the main venue of the 2004 IIHF World Championship in the Czech Republic.
'We visited Prague the other week and after speaking to the people in the arena group, we never really doubted that they would work it out one way or another', said IIHF President René Fasel upon receiving the confirmation today.
'We are of course very pleased that the group behind the Sazka-project has secured the funds to continue the construction and that we can thus put the end to all speculation regarding the IIHF having to appoint a stand-by organiser. The 2004 IIHF World Championship will take place in Prague and Ostrava in the Czech Republic.'
The Hala-Sazka in the north-eastern parts of the Czech capital will have a capacity of 16,300 (all seating) for ice hockey, making it the second biggest in-door arena ever to host an IIHF World Championship.
To stay fully updated with the progress of the arena construction, go to www.halasazka.cz where a web-cam provides minute-by-minute progress reports.
In other IIHF related news: KirchSport is now Infront
Following the collapse of its parent company KirchMedia almost a year ago, the Infront Sports & Media Group has announced that the transition from the former KirchSport to Infront is now complete and the official changeover to the new corporate name – Infront Sports & Media AG – is official as of February 17, 2003.
This signifies that the transaction for the management-supported buyout by a group of shareholders led by Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former head of adidas, and JACOBS AG, is now complete and the new ownership group is in place.
Properties managed by the new Infront include the marketing rights to the IIHF World Championships, which is among the top 12 sport events in the world in terms of spectator attendance.
For further information please contact:
Szymon Szemberg
IIHF Information & Media Relations Manager
Brandschenkestrasse 50, 8002 Zürich, Switzerland
0041-1-562 22 75 (direct), 0041-79-774 07 11 (mobile)
0041-1-562 22 39 (Fax)
szemberg@iihf.com
www.iihf.com
'We visited Prague the other week and after speaking to the people in the arena group, we never really doubted that they would work it out one way or another', said IIHF President René Fasel upon receiving the confirmation today.
'We are of course very pleased that the group behind the Sazka-project has secured the funds to continue the construction and that we can thus put the end to all speculation regarding the IIHF having to appoint a stand-by organiser. The 2004 IIHF World Championship will take place in Prague and Ostrava in the Czech Republic.'
The Hala-Sazka in the north-eastern parts of the Czech capital will have a capacity of 16,300 (all seating) for ice hockey, making it the second biggest in-door arena ever to host an IIHF World Championship.
To stay fully updated with the progress of the arena construction, go to www.halasazka.cz where a web-cam provides minute-by-minute progress reports.
In other IIHF related news: KirchSport is now Infront
Following the collapse of its parent company KirchMedia almost a year ago, the Infront Sports & Media Group has announced that the transition from the former KirchSport to Infront is now complete and the official changeover to the new corporate name – Infront Sports & Media AG – is official as of February 17, 2003.
This signifies that the transaction for the management-supported buyout by a group of shareholders led by Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former head of adidas, and JACOBS AG, is now complete and the new ownership group is in place.
Properties managed by the new Infront include the marketing rights to the IIHF World Championships, which is among the top 12 sport events in the world in terms of spectator attendance.
For further information please contact:
Szymon Szemberg
IIHF Information & Media Relations Manager
Brandschenkestrasse 50, 8002 Zürich, Switzerland
0041-1-562 22 75 (direct), 0041-79-774 07 11 (mobile)
0041-1-562 22 39 (Fax)
szemberg@iihf.com
www.iihf.com