The Swiss René Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) can (almost) pop the champagne corks: barring a last-minute incident, the best hockey players in the NHL, the North American professional league, will be able to participate in the Sochi Games in February 2014. A great first which will undoubtedly constitute one of the highlights of the next Winter Olympic fortnight.
The information is not yet official. But his announcement would only be a matter of days. René Fasel, Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, and Donald Fehr, the head of the Players Association, met around a table on Monday 1er July in New York. The meeting lasted more than five hours. At the end, the three men said they were very close to a historic agreement.
“We are on the right track, there are still a few points to be resolved on certain issues, not on all, but we share the same point of life,” confided Gary Bettman after leaving the meeting. Before assuring that the three parties wanted the project to succeed and were “working hard hand in hand” for its next realization.
At the heart of the discussions, which began several months ago: the way in which players, owners, and more broadly the entire NHL, will be treated during the Games. Very inflexible on the Olympic spirit, the IOC does not wish to make any exceptions, and therefore reserve hockey players treatment different from that of other athletes. Conversely, the NHL wants to obtain a form of compensation for agreeing to interrupt the championship for two weeks, in the middle of the season, and let its best players leave.
More concretely, the North American league intends to obtain guarantees in terms of travel, insurance and accommodation conditions for its players and managers. She would also like to be able to take advantage of the Games to ensure her own promotion, something impossible in the Olympic context.
In this dialogue long considered hopeless, one man played a major role: René Fasel. Both president of the IIHF and member of the IOC, the Swiss never gave up. He played his role as mediator to perfection. If successful, he could easily claim a share of the laurels.
“I am very satisfied with the progress of things, the meeting was very constructive,” suggested René Fasel Monday afternoon in New York. Then he explained that he now had to provide feedback on the progress of the discussions with his federation, the national federations and the IOC. “But I am hopeful that we will reach an agreement very quickly. »
