The beginning of the 89th Ice Hockey World Championship is literally banging on the door. In just two days, a two-week round of wins and losses will begin, which will select the winner, the runner-up and the team with bronze medals on their chest from among the sixteen teams. For the Slovak side, the most important fights on the ice surface were broadcast by JOJ television. After a year, world hockey is once again exclusively at Koliba, but as we managed to find out, not everything went smoothly. The representatives of the television and the implementation team from JOJka were shocked by events that they were not used to from the previous championships…
For the TV crew, the World Hockey Championship 2026 is not only about sports performances, but also about the fight against bureaucracy and data. Since the championship is held in Switzerland, the JOJ group faces specific conditions that a country outside the European Union brings. Director of JOJ Sport, Roman Neuschlexplained how this tournament will be different and why logistics will be the key word throughout May. According to him, the first big test for production is the fact that Switzerland is not a member of the EU. This means the end of the free movement of equipment, as crews from the Czech Republic or Latvia are used to. Competent people were hanging on a string from strict officials…
“The biggest challenges that await us are the logistics, because we are going outside the European Union. This means that every single camera, every single chip, everything has to be registered and as it is imported into Switzerland, it has to be exported,” pointed out Neuschl. Another complication is the data. The entire broadcast of JOJ Šport is built on modern data streams, not on traditional satellites. “Since we are outside the EU, operators treat data completely differently. We had to set up completely different processes for delivery (signal delivery).” adds the station director.
In addition, the team is divided in a radius of up to 80 kilometers. This time, the logistics of accommodation did not allow the entire staff to live under one roof. The team had to be divided into two groups, which will only meet directly in the arena. “We are divided in a radius of about 80 kilometers. The technical ‘crew’ goes from the north and the content team from the south. Unfortunately, there was no other option. I firmly believe that Slovakia will go to the quarter-final matches, then we will have to move everything to Zurich so that we have time to make the quarter-final match at a luxury time.” Neuschl sighed.
Despite the technical challenges, Roman Neuschl does not hide his enthusiasm for the scene of the basic group of the Slovak national team. He describes Friborg as a hockey base with world standards. “Friborg is a prominent hockey city. The arena we toured in November is fantastic. It is a wonderful sports complex with a huge academy. There are football fields, an indoor arena for basketball or volleyball for ten thousand people and an academy with daily classes. The whole of Friborg is such a nice student town that I would compare it to Malmö in Sweden,” he added.
Fans who are going to the World Cup in person will appreciate the unique accessibility of the arena. Switzerland bet on its pride – the railway. “Logistically, it’s very well done, because the main train station is right at the arena. The whole thing is built on trains, which in Switzerland function like trams. People from every zone can get to Friborg by train at any time. From Zurich it’s about an hour, from the closer zones about 20 minutes,” the head of JOJ Šport revealed to us.
The composition of groups with star teams such as Sweden, Canada and Slovakia also promises sold-out halls and an electrifying atmosphere. “We are looking forward, the matches will have an atmosphere,” concludes Roman Neuschl, saying that although the logistics in the country of the Helvetic Cross are a challenge, the environment and hockey culture will amply compensate for it for the fans and the TV crew. Hockey holiday at the stations JOJ Group starts on Friday May 15 and will last until 31 May 2026.
The JOJ group will bring everyone to the fans 64 matches championship from the Swiss cities of Zurich and Fribourg. Key matches of the Slovak national team will be broadcast by TV JOJthe fights of the Zurich group will offer YOJ Plus and the hockey service will complement it JOJ Sportwhich will focus on the Friborg group (where Slovakia also plays) and simultaneous matches. Slovaks led by Vlad Országh will start the tournament with the opening weekend against Norway (Saturday 12:20) and Italy (Sunday 12:20). An alternative to tracking is also special format for JOJ play – Play-On, where former representatives will comment on the matches in a light-hearted way Marián Gáborík and Boris Valábik.
