Monday, January 10, 2022
“Sporty fairness is over”
Omikron destroys the DEL’s good plans
More than 30 games of the German Ice Hockey League have already had to be postponed, and the trend is clearly increasing. In order to still be able to end the season, games should also be played during the Olympics. Even a suspension of the relegation rule is under discussion. Displeasure is growing among the clubs.
Gernot Tripcke doesn’t really enjoy his job at the moment, the managing director of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) is constantly on duty as a crisis manager. “First without a spectator, now without a player – that’s not really fun,” said Tripcke: “It’s a very difficult time for all of us.” The DEL has been particularly badly hit by Corona, currently four teams are in quarantine with Iserlohn Roosters, Red Bull Munich, Grizzlys Wolfsburg and Bietigheim Steelers. The result: the schedule, which was already tightly timed in the Olympic year, crumbles, and the number of catch-up games already adds up to over 30.
“It’s getting tight and tighter,” said Tripcke on ARD, “we have to see how we can get into the Olympic break.” It is now considered certain that the DEL will create dates for catch-up games during the Beijing Winter Games (February 4 to 20). According to information from the ice hockey news, the beginning and the end of the break will be cut.
But that would mean that a team with many Olympic starters would have a competitive disadvantage. Many people in charge are already seeing this through the quarantine measures and the many postponements of the game. “The sporting fairness,” said sports director Stefan Ustorf from the Nürnberg Ice Tigers at MagentaSport, “it’s over.”
“We have a contract with the second division”
The calls for a suspension of promotion and relegation this season are getting louder. There should be no relegation, “if three to five teams are fighting for survival”, demanded, for example, Iserlohn’s sports director Christian Hommel. The Roosters got it particularly hard, 25 players and supervisors had to be quarantined after positive tests. The club has now slipped to the bottom of the table. Tripcke promised to look for a solution with the contractual partner DEL2. “That would certainly make some sleep easier, but we have a contract with the second division,” he said.
In any case, the managing director is much more concerned about the economic effects of the third corona season in a row. The broken viewer income due to the latest Corona regulation hits all clubs hard. “If that turns into a ‘Groundhog Day’, then that is very difficult for Germany as an ice hockey location,” said Tripcke. The solidarity of the players who have to forego a lot of money again, of the sponsors and shareholders who are “digging deeper into their pockets” is “not infinite”.
It is therefore vital that the promised corona aid flows from politicians. But even that might not be enough for everyone in the end. “The clubs will somehow get through the season,” said Tripcke, “but many are really at risk for the future.”