Tashkent, Uzbekistan, August 4, 2023: Top officials of the Olympic Council of Asia and the International Ice Hockey Federation have lauded the Humo Arena, the ice complex in the heart of Tashkent which is hosting the ongoing OCA/IIHF U16 Asian Youth Hockey Camp.
As the week-long camp reached the halfway mark on Friday, August 4, and the ice arena got a much-deserved break from the skates of more than 125 players, game officials and coaches, a quick survey among the participants on the venue known as the ‘ice palace’ in Tashkent received nothing but reactions from awe to admiration.
Harald Springfeld, IIHF Sport Development Manager for Asia and Oceania, was prompt in giving the thumbs up for the 12,500-seater indoor facility which was completed in 2019 to much fanfare.
“The Humo Arena is a facility which can host major international events for ice hockey, with two sheets, one in practice and a competition rink. It provides a perfect sports environment to reach the next level; besides, this facility can also be perfectly used as a multi-purpose arena to host big concerts,” Springfeld noted.
He added: “The big jumbotrons in both the competition and practice rinks are state-of-the-art and can be perfectly used to not only show sport specific information but also used as entertainment for spectators.”
With eight changing rooms, meeting rooms, sky lounge corporate boxes and restaurants among other facilities, the Humo Arena is tailor-made to host major events, not only in ice hockey but also in other winter sports like figure skating, short track, curling, as well as other competitions like basketball, volleyball, futsal, boxing, fencing, taekwondo and other martial arts.
Tony Tarraf, OCA’s Head of Athletes Development Department and Special Projects, paid fulsome tribute to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan for providing this first ever programme for winter sports with “superb facilities”.
“This is a world-class facility. We are extremely fortunate to have use of this wonderful venue and we are grateful to all the Uzbekistan officials who have helped us. It is a great opportunity for the young boys and girls to be practising on such an ice rink,” Tarraf said.
Canadian coach Corey McNabb, who is quite familiar with the NHL, is another admirer. “I have been to many arenas around North America and I can say that this is better than some of them. The ice is good, it has great spectator facilities and best of all is that it has enough changing rooms.
“When I was told that I would be coming to this camp and it would be held at the Humo Arena, I did a Google search and my first reaction was ‘Wow’, does Uzbekistan have such a superb facility!” added McNabb.
Welshman Jason Ellery, who was equipment manager with the Great Britain ice hockey team for more than 25 years, and has seen ice rinks all over the world, also gave high marks for Tashkent’s ice palace. He said: “This is comparable with some of the best in the world.”
