Cancellation
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) officially announced on 15 June 2009 the cancellation of the Champions Hockey League for the 2009–10 season, but that it would possibly be resumed in the 2010–11 season, with the possible contribution of the NHL. The continuation of the league was already called into question in January when the main sponsor, Gazprom, as well as Reebok, pulled out of their commitments to sponsor the league for three seasons. Conflict with the NHL also arose, whereby the European sponsors led by Gazprom were willing to fund 50–60% of the league and control, whereas the NHL offered to fund up to 60%, but wanted full control of the league's operations.
Some teams were considering legal actions against IIHF for the cancellation of the CHL, because "the clubs have blocked out game dates and C.H.L. participation in their budget-planning consideration", as Gernot Tripcke, the general manager of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), said.
On 21 October 2009, the IIHF announced an agreement with Hockey Europe to re-launch the CHL during the 2010–11 season, with teams from the 7 top European leagues (although the agreement was cancelled later, see below). Included in the agreement was to be a settlement that would've compensated the clubs that qualified for the cancelled 2009–10 edition.
On 25 November 2009, Ovation Sports AG, the organization behind the Champions Hockey League, announced that they were discontinuing their efforts and that the league would not continue.
On 9 March 2010, the IIHF announced that they and the European leagues failed to agree on a re-launch of the Champions Hockey League. Therefore, there was no CHL during the 2010–11 season. Thus, the CHL had probably been permanently cancelled.
On 6 December 2010, the IIHF announced that the federation "...invites Europe’s top clubs to a repeat of 2009 success". The IIHF Council approved the re-launch of the Champions Hockey League for the 2011–12 season, with the overall planned length of the approved project of 3 seasons. However, on 23 February 2011, the IIHF announced that the Council had decided to postpone the plans for a re-launch of the CHL in the 2011–12 season, due to lack of interest from professional leagues.
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