The current director of extraliga Tipsport, Martin Loukota, assumed his role on May 1. “But I’ve been working with APK since the fall of last year, so I’ve been fully loaded and busy for a long time,” he says. The Czech ice hockey competition is now run by the clubs themselves, previously the extra The league was run by the Czech Ice Hockey Association, headed by Josef Řezníček. “I am honored to be able to play this role and I am happy that the clubs have given me confidence in running the competition,” he adds.
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The APK had to establish both a disciplinary committee and an appeal committee. The head of the disciplinary commission continues to be Viktor Ujčík, who is also the coach of the first division Jihlava Dukla. Already last season there were numerous discussions about Ujčík holding two such important positions, when Vysočina’s team fought in the playoffs against Kladno for extra league membership. APK has agreed with all other members to continue.
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The current director of the Extra League, Martin Loukota, once worked as a coach of the men’s and women’s national teamPhoto: Profimedia.cz
Initially, Loukot’s job consisted of professional staffing and management. “I presented everything to the board of directors, then the general assembly discussed it”, revealed a person who in the past has worked as an executive of the men’s national team (2010-2011, 2014-2016) and women’s (2018-2022). Together with the legal representative, they drafted the license, appeal and game rules and other documents absolutely necessary for the management of the competition.
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However, on the second day in office, he faced an unfortunate problem after a petition was submitted to the Office for the Protection of Economic Competition by the Czech Hockey Association, in particular by its president Libor Zbořil. It was an investigation into the contracts of extra-league players. Dynamo Pardubice owner Petr Dědek also sent an initiative to the central body of the state administration of the Czech Republic for the area of economic competition, due to the new five-year marketing contract with BPA valid from 2023/2024 season Loukota categorically rejected this accusation. “I am still of the opinion that APK LH paid the utmost attention to the preparation of the contracts and that the selection of the new commercial partner of the extraleague took place in accordance with the law”.
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Throughout August, he and his colleague Tomáš Jankovič monitored the conditions of the extraleague stadiums. “In some stadiums we have encountered small deficiencies, which we have solved on the spot,” he revealed to the Sport.cz website. These include, for example, padding improperly attached to match doors and the like. The checks also covered the quality of booths, treatment rooms, match goals, goal posts and other things.
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From the 2022/2023 season, all extra-league stadiums must be equipped with mobile guardrails and plexiglass. This condition is not satisfied only by Mladá Boleslav. “The club management announced in time that they had problems with deliveries,” said Loukota on the situation. The suitability of the Mladá Boleslav winter stadium was conditionally approved by the APK General Assembly, so the club was also granted a license. Mobile guardrails are expected to be installed at the Mladá Boleslav stadium during the first international break in November.
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