Exclusive - Ice Hockey Chief Blasts IOC Over NHL Snub

(ATR) International Ice Hockey Fed secretary general Horst Lichtner tells Around the Rings the IOC has not done enough to prevent the NHL abandoning the Olympics.

Speaking exclusively to ATR at SportAccord, Lichtner appeared to lay the blame for the breakdown in negotiations at the IOC’s door, while also criticizing the NHL Players’ Association for "not moving" to pressure the NHL to broker a solution.

"Thomas Bach has started the whole thing by saying publicly we are not paying any more, so he changed the game. Now he has the result," Lichtner told ATR. "I am not blaming… I am just saying they started the discussion

Asked if the IOC could have done more, he said: "Ask the IOC. I think they know."

The National Hockey League dropped a bombshell on the IOC last night by announcing that after five consecutive Winter Games, it was not planning to release players for PyeongChang 2018.

The league said in a statement the decision had come after "no meaningful dialogue has materialized" with the IOC, IIHF, and NHLPA in recent months.

The NHL flagged up the IOC’s demand that the NHL's participation in Beijing in 2022 was "conditioned on our participation in South Korea in 2018. And the NHLPA has now publicly confirmed that it has no interest or intention of engaging in any discussion that might make Olympic participation more attractive to the clubs."

Rene Fasel, who heads the IIHF, is not at SportAccord. He has travelled to PyeongChang to monitor Olympic test events. The Swiss IOC member will also be the bearer of bad news about NHL players’ participation next year.

Lichtner was visibily angry at the NHL’s new statement.

"We have not asked anything else than the last five Olympics, the same deal on the table," he said.

"The IOC has changed the paradigm by saying ‘we are not paying any more’. If they would publicly say they support us in achieving a result that would help."

Lichtner had some sharp words for the NHLPA, who he said had done little in the last six months.

"Why is the players’ association not moving to the NHL and put something on the stakeholders. Ninety-seven percent of the players want to go. Why is the players' association not negotiating with the NHL owners," he said.

"The main key is in the NHLPA’s hands. There is no doubt. They want that their main stakeholders, which are the players, have the possibility to play the Olympics."

"If they don’t move, nothing will move."

The NHL’s statement signaled the end of negotiations to bring the league’s players to PyeongChang 2018.

Not so, according to Lichtner: "Things are still ongoing. Now we deal with the statement. It’s not yet over. We are still fighting."

"We cannot just accept giving up. Our mandate is try to create the best Games experience for all our athletes," he said.

"We have been waiting six months on this situation and an announcement from the PA [players' association] and they don’t do anything. We keep trying. I don’t know how successful we will be but we will keep trying. That’s our job."

He declined to highlight what bargaining chips were left in any further talks between the NHLPA, IIHF, IOC and the NHL.

Lichtner said he is one the phone 10 times at day to the NHL offices. In a bid to rescue the situation, he would be back in talks today: "It’s going on, it’s not yet over".

Promising a strong men’s and women’s competition regardless of the outcome of discussions, he said the lack of NHL players in PyeongChang "will not destroy the games. It will be different… but let’s see."

In a statement, the IOC,said the NHL's decision would be "a huge disappointment for the players who definitely wanted to play at the Olympic Winter Games... the IOC feels very sorry for the athletes."

The IOC said it was "even more regrettable" as the IIHF had offered the same conditions to the NHL as at previous Olympic Games, where the insurance and travel costs were covered.

"The IOC, which distributes 90 percent of its revenue for the development of sport in the world, obviously cannot treat a national commercial league better than not-for-profit International Sports Federations which are developing sport globally," the statement added.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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