Legendary Olympic hockey coach admits he used fake COVID vaccination card for Beijing Games

[aggregator] downloaded image for imported item #64439

This post was originally published on this site.

An Olympic hockey coach admitted to using afake vaccination cardto coach his team in the Beijing Olympics four years ago.

Swiss ice hockey coach Patrick Fischer has admitted he used a certificate falsely claiming he’d been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get aroundChina’s strict travel restrictions.

Swiss public broadcaster SRF said it confronted Fischer with documents showing he was fined nearly 39,000 Swiss francs ($50,000) by local authorities in 2023 for document forgery after buying the certificate on social media.SRF said he went public with his admission shortly after.

Read More → AI needs more power: Offices could be the answer

Head coach Patrick Fischer of Switzerland reacting during ice hockey game in Milan

Head coach Patrick Fischer of Switzerland reacts during the men’s preliminary round Group A match against Czechia at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy, on Feb.15, 2026.(EyesWideOpen/Getty Images)

In a statement late Monday, Fischer said he made a “serious mistake in this matter” by traveling to Beijing with the Switzerland men’s team using false 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 is one of Switzerland’s most successful hockey coaches ever.He’s been in the post since 2015 and took the team tothree Olympicsas well as winning three silver medals at the world championship.

Read More → Trump congratulates Rory McIlroy on back-to-back Masters wins: ‘Becoming more and more a legend’

Head coach Patrick Fischer of Team Switzerland training on ice rink in Milan

Head coach Patrick Fischer of Team Switzerland trains on the ice during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on Feb.8, 2026.(Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

OLYMPIC GOLD WINNER DISMISSES ATHLETES’ NEGATIVE COMMENTS ON REPRESENTING US: ‘I THINK WE’RE THE BEST COUNTRY’

The team was eliminated in the quarterfinal round.

Ahead of the 2022 Olympics, China had some of the strictest COVID-19 rules in the world.It insisted any athletes heading to the Games had to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or sit out a three-week quarantine in a hotel, as Swiss snowboarder Patrizia Kummer did.

Read More → Terry Rozier, who was arrested as part of illegal sports betting investigation, released by Heat: report

Switzerland hosts the world championship next month.Fischer was already due to step down after that, and the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said it considers the matter closed.

Head coach Patrick Fischer of Team Switzerland reacting during a hockey game in Beijing

Head coach Patrick Fischer of Team Switzerland reacts during the men’s preliminary round Group B game between ROC and Switzerland at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Feb.9, 2022.(Xavier Laine/Getty Images)

Read More → Serious about safer roads?Get dangerous, unqualified truckers off them now

onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.

Fischer played for the Swiss national team in the 2002 and 2006 Olympics and also played for the country’s 1994 World Juniors team.He spent most of his career playing for EV Zug of Switzerland’s National League A, where his jersey number is retired.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

�s 

Must Read

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top