IIHF Congress awards 2029 World Cham­pi­onship to Slovakia

During its two-day meetings, the Congress had a long list of topics to discuss, ranging from approving the budget and awarding championships to amending the rulebook. Reports were also given on the Global Hockey Forum, audits of minimum participation standards, and updates on the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships and the Olympic Winter Games in Milan.

IIHF President Luc Tardif opened the Congress with a minute’s silence for deceased members. Tardif then reported on the key issues, including negotiations concerning the World Championship, IIHF TV and growth initiatives.

“Alone, you get ahead faster; together, you go further,” he explained.

Tournament updates

Slovakia, which was also the only bidder, was awarded the hosting rights for the 2029 World Championship. The tournament will be played in Bratislava and Kosice. The hosts of the upcoming Men’s World Championships are therefore:

2026: Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland
2027: Düsseldorf and Mannheim, Germany
2028: Paris and Lyon, France
2029: Bratislava and Kosice, Slovakia

Regarding the 2026 tournament, Swiss General Secretary Christian Hofstetter provided an overview of the state of preparations, presented the two arenas in Zurich and Fribourg, and gave a report on what the tournament will look like.

The semi-finals and medal games will be played at the 9.800-seat arena in Zurich. The tournament slogan is “Time to Shine”.

Other championships for the 2025-26 season were also awarded during the Congress:

IIHF Men’s World Championship 

• Division I, Group A, Sosnowiec, Poland 
• Division I, Group B, Shenzhen, China
• Division II, Group A, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
• Division II, Group B, Sofia, Bulgaria
• Division III, Group A, Cape Town, South Africa
• Division III, Group B, Hong Kong, China

IIHF Women’s World Championship

• Division I, Group A, Budapest, Hungary
• Division I, Group B, Puigcerda, Spain
• Division II, Group A, Bled, Slovenia
• Division II, Group B, Hong Kong, China
• Division III, Group A, Zagreb, Croatia
• Division III, Group B, Kohtla-Jarve, Estonia

IIHF U20 World Championship

• Division I, Group A, Bled, Slovenia
• Division I, Group B, Milan, Italy
• Division II, Group A, Bucharest, Romania
• Division II, Group B, Belgrade, Serbia
• Division III, Group A, Sofia, Bulgaria
• Division III, Group B, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship

• Division I, Group A, Krynica, Poland
• Division I, Group B, Tallinn, Estonia
• Division II, Group A, Targu Secuiesc, Romania
• Division II, Group B, Belgrade, Serbia
• Division III, Group A, Hong Kong, China
• Division III, Group A, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship

• Division I, Group A, To Be Determined
• Division I, Group B, Katowice, Poland
• Division II, Group A, Istanbul, Türkiye
• Division II, Group B, To Be Determined
• Division III, Bangkok, Thailand

Growth Initiatives

The IIHF will hold a global ice hockey forum in Nice, France, this autumn. The event will focus on three pillars: game development, marketing and women’s ice hockey. National member associations have been asked to send one representative for each of the forum’s three areas.

“Bring the people who will be dealing with these issues,” suggested IIHF Vice-President Bob Nicholson.

The IIHF will also launch a European Cup of Nations to ensure that all national teams can play high-quality games during European international breaks. Twelve national member associations will take part.

Delegates were also encouraged to apply for the sustainability award.

Congress was also informed that IIHF TV was successfully launched in April and already has 350.000 registrations.

“IIHF TV, which we created in collaboration with our commercial partners, gives ice hockey fans around the world the opportunity to watch every game of the Ice Hockey World Championships at all levels,” enthused President Tardif about this important initiative.

Upgrade for Development Support

IIHF development support, which will amount to almost $ 9 million in 2025, has until now been based solely on the results of a programme at the Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships, with around 95 per cent of this support awarded only to teams in the top division.

The distribution model has now been changed. To make it fairer, the distribution model will be based on the programme’s performance at five tournaments: the men’s and women’s World Championships, the men’s Junior World Championships, U20 and U18 men’s and women’s tournaments. In addition, support will be weighted according to the IIHF World Ranking.

“If the men’s and women’s programmes are equally strong, there will be no real impact. If the women’s programme is stronger than the men’s, support will increase,” explained Director General Matti Nurminen during his presentation.

Rule Book

Congress approved several minor changes to the rule book. In future, the penalty for shooting the puck out of the playing area can be challenged. The net apron beside the goalposts must be transparent in future. This rule will remain in place. In addition, a linesman may stop play if a goaltender plays the puck outside the trapezoid.

IIHF President Tardif closed Congress by thanking all delegates for their work. He again stressed the importance of democratic decision-making, even if it means that the Council sometimes has “long and tough discussions”.

The next semi-annual IIHF Congress will take place in Nice, France, on 3 and 4 October 2025, immediately following the Global Hockey Forum.