Josef 'Jupp' Kompalla, one of ice hockey's most prolific referees, died on July 12, 2026, at the age of 90 following a brief and serious illness.
Kompalla officiated more than 2,000 top-flight matches and over 150 international fixtures across a career spanning three decades. Born on March 13, 1936, in Kattowitz, Upper Silesia, he refereed at the 1976, 1980, and 1984 Winter Olympics and 11 world championships. The pinnacle of his career came when he took charge of the decisive eighth game of the 1972 Summit Series between the Soviet Union and Canada in Moscow.
Kompalla was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 1992 and in 2003 became only the ninth German inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation's Hall of Fame.