A stunning and surprising development has emerged out of the Switzerland national hockey team’s camp just over a month from hosting the World Championships, as head coach Patrick Fischer, who led the Eisgenossen to three World Championship Silver medals, was terminated after admitting to falsifying COVID vaccination documents to enter China during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Fischer admitted to lying on his paperwork on 13 April, admitting a “serious mistake” in trying to get ahead of the story being broken by falsifying that he had been vaccinated for COVID. China held strict vaccination requirements for all Olympic participants at the 2022 Games, either requiring proof of vaccination or requiring a three-week quarantine in the country.

Swiss broadcaster SRF found documentation saying that he was fined 39,000 francs in 2023 for forgery, after purchasing a certificate saying he was vaccinated over social media.

While the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (SIHF) had remarked that the matter was closed, and that no further action would be taken, he was instead terminated two days later, for triggering “a public debate about values and trust,” as noted by SIHF president Urs Kessler in a statement, saying that the earlier decision was too short-sighted.

Fischer, who was set to step down as Switzerland’s head coach after the upcoming World Championships in Zürich and Fribourg, was the most successful coach in the national team’s history, taking an eleventh place finish in his first season in 2016 and turning the program into a three-time Silver medalist (2018, 2024, 2025) in his twelve-year tenure. Fischer will now be replaced by under-20 coach Jan Cadieux, who was set to take over from Fischer in the fall.

How this tumult will impact the national team as they prepare to compete for their first Gold medal in history, on home ice, in arguably the closest window for a Gold medal the team has ever had, will remain to be seen, but Switzerland’s medal chances could potentially take a serious hit as a result of the firing and fallout.

Photo Credit: Reuters – IIHF – HHOF – IOC