At the “2009 IIHF World Championship”, the last days of the tournament in Bern and Zurich will not only be devoted to determining the winner of the coveted world championship title, but the three best ice hockey players on each national team will be given the “3 Best Players of Each Team Award“. One child from each in the sponsorship participating country accompanied by an adult will also have the opportunity to personally be present at the award ceremony. How? Parents can upload the favorite fair play ice hockey photo of their offspring or the scan of an ice hockey drawing or painting made by their children at www.henkel-powerplayers.com. In addition to the journey to Switzerland, including hotel accommodations and attending one of the 2009 IIHF World Championship matches between May 4-8, 2009, 100 people participating in the sweepstakes will receive Henkel product packages as a prize.

Following its sponsorship of the “2007 IIHF World Championship” in Russia (IIHF = International Ice Hockey Federation) and the “2008 IIHF World Championship” in Canada, Henkel is now sponsoring another major ice hockey event for the third time: the “2009 IIHF World Championship”, which will be held in Switzerland from April 24, 2009 – May 10, 2009. The sponsorship is primarily related to advertising promotion in the stadiums of the two host cities Bern and Zurich, featuring the corporate umbrella brand Henkel and the branded products Persil (detergents) and Ceresit (construction engineering).  

In addition, this mega-sporting event will be used as a means of increasing public awareness of Henkel Smile, the corporate citizenship program of the company. Henkel will donate 50 euros for each goal which is shot. The spectators in the stadiums can also actively make a contribution to a good cause, by signing the Henkel Smile Fan T-shirt, which is worth one euro each. Visitors to www.henkel-powerplayers.com will be able to decide on their preferred Henkel Smile project of the IIHF World Championship by voting up until April 15, 2009. They can choose to support two charitable organizations: Laureus as well as SOS Children’s Villages.

All in all, 16 national ice hockey teams in four groups will compete against each other in the 73rd IIHF World Championship, playing 56 matches in their struggle to win the coveted world championship title. 300,000 fans are expected to attend this huge event, which will attract a TV viewership estimated at 800 million people. Accordingly, this ice-hockey tournament will be the largest sporting event in Switzerland in the year 2009.