In a recent unusual update, ice hockey coach Patrick Fischer has admitted he used a certificate falsely claiming he had been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get around China’s travel restrictions for the 2022 Winter Olympics, where he led his nation.
In a statement, Fischer, who remains in charge of the Swiss team, said he made a “serious mistake in this matter” by travelling to Beijing with the men’s team using false paperwork.
“I’m very sorry if I’ve disappointed people with this situation,” Fischer said. “I was in an extraordinary personal crisis because I didn’t want to be vaccinated.”
“At the same time I certainly didn’t want to let my team down at the Olympic Games,” he added.
Moreover, Swiss public broadcaster SRF said it confronted Fischer with documents showing he was fined nearly 39,000 Swiss francs ($50,000) by local authorities in 2023 for document forgery after buying the certificate on social media and went public with his admission shortly after.
World Hockey Championsip:
The Swiss Ice Hockey is set to host the World Championships in May but faces questions over the coach’s falsified Olympic paperwork.
Fischer is one of Switzerland’s most successful hockey coaches ever. Since 2015, he has taken the team to three Olympics, as well as winning three silver medals at the World Championship.
His team reached the quarterfinals at the 2022 Olympics, where COVID-19 testing was a requirement, and the National Hockey League stayed away because of the pandemic.
As of 2022 Olympics, China had some of the strictest COVID-19 rules in the world that insisted any athletes heading to the games had to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or sit out a three-week quarantine in a hotel, as Swiss snowboarder Patrizia Kummer did.
Notably, the hockey lead, Fischer, was already due to step down after the news, and the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said it considers the matter closed.
