Slovak Ice Hockey Chief Criticizes Czech Referees at World Championship

Miroslav Šatan, president of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation and general manager of the national team, criticized the International Ice Hockey Federation for assigning Czech referees to Slovakia's matches at the World Championship following the team's elimination. Šatan argued that the referee assignments came in response to complaints his federation had filed with the IIHF. The Slovak hockey chief praised young players on the team and described the federation's approach as a "rebuild" following years of struggling to find a successor to former coach Craig Ramsay. Slovakia has now completed three major tournaments under current coach Vladimír Országh, with the federation continuing to search for long-term solutions to improve the national team's performance at international competitions.