René Fasel

René Fasel (born 6 February 1950) is the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. He is also a dentist in Switzerland. He started his ice hockey career as a player for HC Fribourg-Gottéron, in 1960, and became a referee in 1972. He became president of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation 1985, then was elected president of the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1994. He later became an International Olympic Committee member and was elected to its executive board.

René Fasel
Fasel in 2011
Born (1950-02-06) 6 February 1950
Fribourg, Switzerland
NationalitySwiss
EducationDMD
OccupationDentist, ice hockey administrator
Known forInternational Ice Hockey Federation president, International Olympic Committee executive, Swiss Ice Hockey Federation president

Career

Born in Fribourg, Switzerland, Fasel started his playing career with the Swiss league team HC Fribourg-Gottéron in 1960.[1] He remained with the team until 1972 and retired to become a referee. He remained a referee until 1982 and officiated 37 international matches.[2] In 1982 he became the Chairman of the Swiss Ice Hockey League referees' commission.[1] In 1985, he became president of the Schweizerischer Eishockeyverband, Switzerland's governing body for ice hockey. He was elected to the IIHF council the following year and served as head of the Referee and the Marketing Committees.[2]

In June 1994, he was elected the President of the IIHF, succeeding Günther Sabetzki. He has served four consecutive terms as President. His most recent started at the IIHF congress in May 2008 when he was unopposed in his re-election attempt.[3] As IIHF president, Fasel has tried to forge a stronger relationship between the IIHF and the National Hockey League (NHL), the major professional ice hockey league of North America. In March 1995, he helped negotiate an agreement so that NHL players could compete at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.[4] He has also vowed to "work day and night" to help negotiate an agreement that will see NHL players participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics.[5] He is against fighting in ice hockey, describing it as "Neanderthal behavior".[6]

In 1992 he became a member of the Swiss Olympic Association. In 1995 he became a member of the International Olympic Committee. He was the first ever representative of ice hockey.[2] As an IOC member, he has held several positions, including Chairman of the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) and Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the 2010 Winter Olympics.[1] In May 2008, Fasel was nominated to replace Ottavio Cinquanta as the winter sports representative on the IOC's executive board.[7] He was named to the board on 7 August at the 120th IOC Session held before the 2008 Summer Olympics and served an eight-year term until 2016 when he was replaced by Gian-Franco Kasper.[8]

Fasel spoke at the World Hockey Summit in 2010, and discussed the National Hockey League (NHL) presence in Europe and in ice hockey at the Olympic Games, and was defensive of European hockey.[9] He was against NHL expansion plans into Europe, and envisioned a European professional league, where the champion would play the Stanley Cup winner for a world title.[10] He sought to keep NHL participation at the Winter Olympics due to its profitability and exposure for international hockey.[9]

In January 2021, Fasel was criticized for meeting with Alexander Lukashenko regarding the 2021 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests.[11] Fasel replied that the meeting was solely to discuss the World Championships, and that they had known each other from playing ice hockey together.[12]

Personal life

Fasel is married and has four children. He attended the University of Fribourg and University of Bern and became a Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1977.[1] In 1997, the IOC commissioned him to conduct a study of dental treatment of Olympic athletes.[2] The report, "Sports Dentistry and the Olympic Games", was published in 2005.[13] On 26 July 2012 Fasel was part of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay in London.[14]

Fasel was awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in 2011.[15]

References
  1. "Mr René Fasel". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  2. "IIHF Council". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  3. "Fasel unopposed for re-election as IIHF President". The Sports Network. 30 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  4. Lapointe, Joe (16 September 1997). "The N.H.L.'s Olympic Gamble; Stars' Participation in Nagano Could Raise Sport's Profile". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
  5. "Bettman and Fasel face off". CTV Olympics. 27 March 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
  6. Bass, Alan (19 January 2009). "Beyond the Bleachers with IIHF President Rene Fasel". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  7. "Fasel set to join the IOC executive". International Ice Hockey Federation. 6 May 2008. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  8. Associated Press (7 August 2008). "Moroccan woman set to join IOC rule making body". ESPN. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  9. Burnside, Scott (24 August 2010). "Euro expansion? 'Hell' no, Rene Fasel says". ESPN. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  10. Duhatschek, Eric (24 August 2010). "Fasel warns NHL over European expansion". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  11. 'Hello, My Dear': Lukashenka's Warm Hug For International Ice Hockey Chief Leaves Belarusian Opposition, Activists Steaming Mad - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 12 January 2021
  12. ""I Played With Fire And Got Burned." Rene Fasel About His Meeting With Lukashenko". Belarusfeed. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  13. Fasel, Rene; Piccininni, Paul M. (June 2005). "Sports Dentistry and the Olympic Games" (PDF). CDA Journal. Canadian Dental Association. 33 (6). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2010.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. https://www.championat.com/hockey/news-999275-dmitrij-medvedev-vruchil-rene-fazelju-orden-druzhby.html
Preceded by
Günther Sabetzki		 President of the IIHF
1994–present		 Incumbent
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