Uprising against hockey boss Stefan Scherer fails

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The National Federation wants to oust its association president Stefan Schärer. The actions of the National League clubs were so naive that the uprising failed at the outset and the level of excitement was not enough to start a storm in a teacup. Stefan Schärer remains in office.

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Ice Hockey Federation president Stefan Schärer has had a good year in office (from September 2023), but he is already facing calls to resign. It’s difficult to hold the top position in our game of hockey. In modern times, there is only one man who is truly respected by all: Freddie Egli. His strengths: He led EV Zug to a high reputation and financial stability. This insulates him from criticism from club owners. Since then, the smoke of conspiracy and discontent has continued to loom over our highest office in hockey. Even though we are doing better hockey than ever.

First and foremost, certain representatives of Dutch football clubs, through chairman Matthias Berner, have called for the resignation of Stefan Scherer. oops! Scherer confirmed his request to resign and said: “I want to know how the president of the league came to this decision, because it is not a decision for all clubs.” In fact, the National League, formed as a joint stock company, has not officially decided Demand the resignation of the association president.

ZSC Lions manager and member of the association's management committee Peter Zahner has told him it is time to give up his position. But he remains unmoved: “As long as I feel the strong support of the association's board of directors, the individual clubs and the majority of regional representatives, it is impossible for me to resign.”

Peter Zarner also told Scherer that he should resign. Image: trapezoid

Stefan Schärer There is an onion effect: if the sum of the accusations against Schärer is an onion, and we first cut it open to see what is inside, then in the end we do not have an apple of knowledge in front of us. . There were only tears in my eyes, and I was still a little helpless.

Why is association management so difficult? Because two worlds collided. On the one hand, there is the world of amateurs, volunteers, dedicated part-time coaches and officials who keep our game growing at the grassroots level, nurturing young talent all the way to the second highest league. On the other hand, there are “big businesses” with 14 clubs in the top league, with a turnover of nearly 300 million, providing players for the national team and bringing in 30 million in revenue every year through top television contracts. alliance.

The top league has been legally separated from the association for two years, with TV rights now going through the league rather than the association. However, at the same time, in order to remain administratively part of international ice hockey, the league remains a member of the association and, due to its influence, is something of a “kingmaker” or “regicide”. Go to the association president’s office. A league that used amateur interests and the League of Nations as its development engine and money-making machine was now like a bickering, financially disparate couple forced to live in the same home and sleep in the same bed. Managing a budget like this as president is not easy.

Schärer has been president of the association since 2023.Image: KEYSTONE

Stefan Schärer's criticism is very simple: concepts, research, analysis and meetings, but no concrete results. Especially in terms of the transformation and development of the second tier league (Swiss Sky League) that the association is responsible for. The interference with the daily business of the association is excessive and disruptive. He said that since he comes from out of town, he must first be familiar with the characteristics of ice hockey. Meetings are needed to identify problems and develop solutions.

The club has just made this request to bring some fresh air to the association, which will require more people to come to the association offices in the first phase. He is expected to make changes and it would be in the club's interest if he has now orchestrated the association's head coaching change (Martin Bowman to Patrick Bloch). His approach is to address the problem head on, outlining the solution, and sometimes some things can be misunderstood. The accusation in some circles that Stefan Schärer is a self-promoter is irrelevant: could anyone become the chairman of any committee who has not mastered the art of self-promotion to some extent? No.

For the National League club, hopes of Scherer leaving alone will not come to fruition. Because the representatives of the NL clubs were surprisingly naive: it was not enough to be a little dissatisfied with the president of the association and suggest that he resign.

This somewhat self-righteous demand will only be effective if there is an opposing candidate with sufficient political support and a nullification election can be staged. But the three-quarters majority needed to achieve that goal is still out of reach. The League's resistance to the president of the Association was not even a trivial matter. At best it was a strong wind. Stefan Schärer will remain in office until at least the end of his first term in 2027. point of view.

• 7

  A leader who can decide games and make his team better on and off the ice.

• 6-7

  A talented player who can decide a game on a good night and is a leader.

• 5-6

  A good NL player: usually a rainbow butterfly of talent, sometimes a serious worker who brings out a lot of talent.

• 4-5

  Players on the third or fourth block, veterans or newcomers.

• 3-4

  The future is still ahead of you, or the future is already behind you.

• The rating is the North American hockey grading standard, ranging from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest). There are no levels below level 3, because those who play in the top leagues are at least barely adequate.

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