The “Pro Fans” association is putting pressure on: Will tennis balls soon also fly into hockey stadiums?

Marcel AllemannIce hockey reporter

It is becoming increasingly visible in Swiss hockey stadiums: Pro Fans – the organization of the Swiss fan scenes, in which twelve major fan curves and groups from the league participate. The Limmatblok of the ZSC Lions is there, as well as the Curva Berna of the SCB and the Curva Nord from Lugano.

At the end of February there was a national campaign in which the seven-point requirements (see box) were presented. Many fans believe that things are going in the wrong direction in Swiss hockey and that the diversity of fans is in danger. Above all, the increasingly poor treatment of away fans and the collective punishment in the event of incidents are a thorn in their side.

They want to be taken seriously

“We want to make ourselves heard and take it seriously,” says Tom Maurer (52), spokesperson for Pro Fans. Every five to six weeks there are online meetings between the key players of the individual fan curves via teams. They took their demands to the clubs, “and received a surprising amount of positive feedback,” says Maurer.

They also wrote to the National League and were told that they would be informed of what they did not like in due course. “We don’t want to be informed, we want to have a say,” Maurer makes clear. “We don’t give up and let our worries flow somewhere, but rather be really annoying when necessary.” Denis Vaucher (58), director of the National League, would not comment at this time when asked; the focus is now on the play-offs and the concerns of professional fans will be addressed in the summer.

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Will next season’s matches be disrupted?

For the time being, Pro Fans relies on a constructive dialogue with its actions. However, if this doesn’t happen, they plan to step up a gear, and it cannot be ruled out that gaming operations will also be disrupted. Similar to what we experienced in the German Bundesliga, where in the ultimately successful battle against investors in the stadiums, rows of tennis balls flew from the fan corners onto the pitch, leading to stoppages and near abandonments.

Will tennis balls soon also fly into our hockey stadiums? “That will be difficult because there are nets in front of the fan bends,” says Maurer with a smile. There are certain creative ideas, “but I don’t want to go into that in depth now. For now, dialogue is our priority.”

League is doing well with a zero tolerance policy

The National League would do well to take Pro Fans seriously and accept this fan curve organization as an additional player in Swiss ice hockey. Since it may not disappear anytime soon, it is currently too well positioned for that, including its own homepage (pro-fans.ch). However, it is unrealistic that Pro Fans will achieve their goal with all their demands. The competition has been doing well lately with its zero-tolerance policy and therefore has fewer problems than, for example, national football. Maurer is also aware that some demands can lead to compromises at best. It’s about having a say in fan politics.

By the way, Pro Fans has a welcome side effect. Their activism can reduce the risk of violent clashes between fans involved in games. Maurer says, “That’s certainly an exciting point that I get asked about a lot.”