Miroslav Šatan became the new president of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. Delegates at the central ice-hockey congress decided on Šatan by supporting him by 229 votes in the first round of the election. The beaten rival Jaromír Šmátrala received only 99 votes.
"For me, it is a commitment for the coming period. I have been working in Slovak hockey for two years now, I shall continue this work for another three,"said Šatan after his election, surprised by the high support he has received, despite officially running for the post only in the past two weeks. Since 2017, Miroslav Šatan has acted as the General Manager of the national team. In the past, 44-year old Šatan played ice hockey on a professional level; he was the captain of the Slovak gold winning team at the 2002 World Ice-Hockey Championship. In the position of Hockey Slovakia president, Miroslav Šatan will replace Martin Kohút, who has led the federation since 2016. Who is going to fill the post of the General Manager with the national team is not clear yet.
"I haven't had time to think about it. We have a summer season, so we are in no rush," said Šatan. Meanwhile, he wants to visit every Slovak club to introduce a mutual vision and ask them for their approval.
