“Team sports are the focus of Grupa Azoty’s sponsorship activity. Team building, strategy development, international competition and fair play are some of the things that business and sport have in common. All this will be charged with strong emotions that we are really looking forward to see, with the Polish red and white flag over the entire event,” Mariusz Bober, President of the Management Board of the Grupa Azoty Group, commented on the conclusion of the contract.

Exactly four decades ago, the Spodek arena witnessed the greatest victory ever of the Polish ice hockey team, as Poles defeated the Soviet Union, the then Olympic and world champion, 6−4.

This is the second pool B championship held in Poland. Last year, the team led by Jacek Płachta almost advanced to the top division in ice hockey.

 “The Spodek arena has hosted the world championships three times now, including in 1976, when the Polish team pulled off a historic victory over the Soviet Union. This is a lucky venue for Polish sports. Let’s hope that our players will be a roaring success again,” says Dawid Chwałka, President of the Polish Ice Hockey Association.

The national teams of Austria, Slovenia, Poland, Japan, Italy and South Korea will play in the tournament, fighting to be promoted to the 2017 World Championship in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France.

Spodek is a multipurpose event space with 9,500 seats, a large hall and a smaller all-year-round ice rink. Its huge advantage is that viewers are seated close to the players, which ensures powerful emotions and excitement, especially when watching such a spectacular discipline as ice hockey. Recently, the Spodek arena has hosted the Men’s Handball European Championship and a WTA tournament.

Tickets for the World Championship Division IA in Katowice are on sale at www.ebilet.pl, Empik stores, and in the Spodek ticket office.