He studied at the Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, earning his doctorate in 1938.

Due to his fair-play attitude, he was nicknamed the "Knight in Football Boots".

Apart from football he also participated in other sports like running races, that ranged from 800m to 5000m, to high jumping.

He served as the first sparring partner in figure skating for Hilda Múdra, renowned for training Olympic gold medalist Ondrej Nepela.

In that same year the SFZ announced the creation of 'The Dr. Ivan Chodak Fair Play Prize' That's given every year, at an award ceremony held in Dolný Kubín, a football stadium named after him.