An Olympic hockey coach has admitted to using a fake COVID-19 vaccination certificate to get around China’s travel restrictions ahead of the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
In a statement Monday, Swiss ice hockey coach Patrick Fischer admitted to a ‘serious mistake in this matter’ by traveling with fictitious 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.’
Fischer’s mea culpa reportedly came after Swiss public broadcaster SRF confronted him with proof that he was fined nearly $50,000 by local authorities buying a forged certificate off social media.
The good news for the 50-year-old coach is that he’s unlikely to face any further punishment for the incident. He’s scheduled to step down from the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation after next month’s world championships, which happen to be held in Switzerland.
Fischer has been the coach of Switzerland’s national team since 2015, earning three Olympic berths along the way, not to mention three silver medals at the world championships.
Swiss hockey coach Patrick Fischer admitted to a ‘serious mistake’ by using fake documents
Fischer has been the coach of Switzerland’s national team since 2015, earning three Olympic berths along the way, not to mention three silver medals at the world championships
In 2022, without any NHL players competing, Switzerland was able to reach the quarterfinals in Beijing.
At the time, China had some of the strictest COVID-19 rules in the world. Athletes were required to be vaccinated or spend a three-week quarantine in a hotel.
Switzerland won twice at the recent Winter Olympics in Milan, beating France 4-0, stunning Czechia in overtime, 4-3, and shutting out Italy in the playoff round, 3-0. The Swiss fell to Team Canada, 5-1, in the group stage and were bounced from the tournament with a 3-2 overtime loss to Finland in the quarterfinals.
Fischer’s refusal to take the vaccine contrasted somewhat with his countrymen, around 69 percent of whom are fully vaccinated, according to TheGlobalEconomy.com. That figure is comparable to the vaccination rates in the US, but slightly below Canada, where 83 percent of the population is believed to be vaccinated.
