Switzerland fires ice hockey coach for fake COVID vaccination certificate
Switzerland has fired men's ice hockey head coach Patrick Fischer after he admitted using a fake COVID-19 vaccination certificate to travel to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said on Wednesday.Fischer issued a statement on Monday saying he entered China using a non-valid certificate that the Swiss federation did not know about. Swiss public broadcaster SRF said it had previously confronted Fischer with the allegations.The Swiss federation initially gave Fischer its backing, commending the coach for admitting his mistake, but media pressure brought about a change of mind."The case is legally closed but has triggered a public debate about values and trust, which the federation takes very seriously," federation president Urs Kessler said in a statement."From today's perspective, our initial assessment — that the matter was concluded — was too short-sighted. This is about values and respect, that are fundamental to Swiss Ice Hockey and which Patrick Fischer did not uphold in 2022."The 50-year-old, who led Switzerland to three World Championship silver medals, said he had been in an extraordinary personal crisis as he did not want to be vaccinated but also did not want to let down his team at the Games.Fischer had been in charge since 2015, and was due to bow out after this year's World Championship, which Switzerland will host in May. Jan Cadieux, already announced as Fischer's replacement, will now take charge with immediate effect.
