Paul Loicq | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 11 August 1888 Brussels, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 March 1953 (aged 64) Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Ice hockey referee, lawyer and businessman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace president, Royal Belgian Ice Hockey Federation president | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Hockey Hall of Fame (1961) IIHF Hall of Fame (1997) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Honors | Paul Loicq Award | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Military career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance | Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Branch | Belgian Army Belgian Resistance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Colonel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wars | World War I World War II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Loicq (11 August 1888 – 26 March 1953) was a Belgian lawyer, businessman and ice hockey player, coach, referee and administrator. He played ice hockey for Belgium men's national ice hockey team and won four bronze medals from in 1910 to 1914. He was a leading supporter of the efforts to introduce ice hockey at the Olympic Games, and served on the organizing committee for ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics. After playing in the 1920 Olympics he served as president of the Royal Belgian Ice Hockey Federation from 1920 to 1935, and as president of the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG) from 1922 to 1947, which was later known as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). During his time as president the LIHG more than doubled its membership and welcomed the first national associations from Asia and Africa, and the LIHG began hosting its annual Ice Hockey World Championships in 1930. He was also an international ice hockey referee from 1924 to 1937 at the Olympic Games, the Ice Hockey World Championships and the Ice Hockey European Championships. He served in the Belgian Army during World War I and World War II, achieved the rank of colonel, and represented Belgium as legal counsel at the Nuremberg trials.
Loicq was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builder's category in 1961. He was the first European to be inducted, and was credited as the main person who introduced hockey to the Olympics. He inducted into the inaugural class of the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997, and was credited for growing the game of hockey in Europe and raising its worldwide profile. The IIHF established the Paul Loicq Award in 1998, given to recognize an individual for outstanding contributions to the development of international ice hockey.