Contract expires: will Nati coach Fischer become a lame duck?

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When the National Team Committee (NTC) meets on Wednesday, the question will also be discussed whether the contracts of Nati coach Patrick Fischer (48) and assistant Tommy Albelin (59) should be extended early until 2026. The association’s business operations is in favor of this solution, other NTC members (see box) are against it. Behind closed doors it is said that they see no reason to set the course for the next World Cup.

This skepticism is apparently not based on sporting reasons: shortly after the 2023 World Cup, the same NTC noted that despite the poor performance in the quarter-finals, they were in principle on the right track. A vote of confidence.

President Schärer is a fool

What has caused irritation in the atmosphere of the national team since then? Decisions and communications from the SIHF management: the cancellation of the summer prospect camp for Swiss talents, the regular criticism of the National League’s foreign policy and, most recently, the communication about Fischer’s contract situation.

The new association president Stefan Schärer (58) has not yet been able to close the gap between the association and the National League, on the contrary: in an interview with erratic simulation games about Fischer, he focused far and wide on the only faux pas and which created additional explosives. Nati director Lars Weibel (49) spoke out in favor of an early extension with Fischer, Fischer himself said on SRF Sportpanorama that he only had one cartridge left and it had to be correct. The leadership’s communication trials and tribulations have apparently spread like a pall over the team’s sporting achievements.

What role does Raffainer play?

Back to the NTC. An advice from this committee is not binding for the chamber that ultimately decides the fate of the national coaches: the SIHF Board of Directors. The board can therefore also go against advice from the NTC. However, there are some of the same people in the VR (see box) as in the NTC, including, interestingly enough, former Nati director Raeto Raffainer. It is unclear what interests he represents or pursues: he was once called up as a representative of the NL clubs Davos and Bern, but now as a councilor he only represents the International Ice Hockey Federation.

What happened before the NTC meeting: The decision on Fischer’s future could be made dependent on the outcome of the next World Cup, which amounts to a vote of no confidence. This despite the fact that the NTC had expressed its confidence in him in the spring? That would also mean that no goals can be set until shortly before the World Cup, because until then no one knows how strong the team will be.

The ice hockey association now fears that coaches Fischer and Albelin will soon look for another job and walk away. The “opposite side” does not believe in such a scenario or does not attach great importance to it. It is possible that the Swiss national team will be led by a so-called “lame duck” at the World Cup next spring. This idea doesn’t seem particularly inspiring.

Source : Blick