Martin Kohút became the new president of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation after an election on Thursday. He received 150 votes; 23 more than his opponent Tibor Turan. In 2015 the appointment of Igor Nemeček led to a strike of around 50 of the best Slovak players. They supported the then runner-up Richard Lintner. The stars refused to play for the national team because they found the election unfair. At that time, the president himself also had a right to vote, while his opponent not. There were also employees of the association who had the right to vote even though they were chosen for their positions by the president. The strike lasted until December. Then, Igor Nemeček agreed to the terms of the star players. The new elections were announced and their rules changed. The critics of Nemeček chose Martin Kohút as their candidate, with him eventually becoming the new president of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation:
"I believe I am a better manager than my opponent. I am definitely not planning to replace half the people working in the association. I will try to explain how it will work. I don't know what is going to be the most difficult thing. I know my goal and in one year I will tell you what was the most difficult thing", Last year, Tibor Turan was a supporter of former president Igor Nemeček. "When I announced my candidacy, I believed my chances were 50-50. Eventually we expected much higher numbers. I am leaving it for the conscience of those who promised to support me," said Turan.
The new president worked as a manager in the IT sector and hadn't had experience with ice hockey before. He started to work in the association only a year ago when the ex-president chose him for the executive committee. Among his first steps will be the plan to create an organisational structure and improve all processes. Kohút wants to start a series of personal meetings with all people in the association to introduce his vision.
