Patrick Fischer admitted to using a fake COVID-19 certificate for the 2022 Olympic Games. The association initially stood by him until he was dismissed on Wednesday.
As revealed at today’s press conference (https://lnkd.in/eGH3Swxk) held by the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation, the federation’s media officer was also present at the lunch in March 2026, during which Patrick Fischer candidly told SRF journalist Pascal Schmitz about his COVID fine.
The association thus had ample time—several days, even weeks—to prepare for the situation. Why were they unaware of the risks? Why weren’t the sponsors and the International Ice Hockey Federation brought on board immediately? Why didn’t anyone take notice when Patrick Fischer spoke of an unconditional (!) fine, and why didn’t the issue of “prior offenses” come up? In short, a total failure of crisis management.
In addition to the criticism of crisis management, here is a reminder of the most important rules of crisis communication:
- Journalists report what is of public relevance. Patrick Fischer must take responsibility himself for telling the SRF reporter about his conviction.
- Crisis communication requires honesty. Fischer’s apology contained a false statement regarding his compliance with the law (quote on the association’s website), even though he had a prior conviction. It remains unclear whether this is his fault or that of the association’s communications team.
If the league officials had acted with foresight and professionalism—and I’m going out on a limb here—Patrick Fischer would actually be standing at the boards as head coach of the Swiss national ice hockey team at the World Championship this May.
Here is my statement to TeleZüri
