Fasel Says SportAccord Confrontation Will Be Resolved Respectfully

(ATR) Ice Hockey federation chief René Fasel played down the confrontation between SportAccord boss Marius Vizer and IOC president Thomas Bach saying it’s similar to a hard-fought, physical hockey game.

"In hockey it’s very easy, if there is some misconduct, we can give a misconduct (penalty)," Fasel said with a smirk. "We fight, we hit, we behave badly, but at the end of the game we shake hands and drink a beer."

"What I expect, is that at the end Thomas and Marius will shake hands and drink a beer," said Fasel, who has been a fixture at SportAccord for two decades.

Vizer ranted on Monday that the IOC is not transparent enough and Bach is blocking SportAccord’s efforts to develop multi-sports events.

In response, ASOIF suspended its partnership with SportAccord.

ASOIF president Francesco Ricci Bitti offered his take on the controversy, also expressing optimism that the parties can sit down and discuss the matter.

"I said to Marius Vizer very openly, we will sit down and we will see," Ricci Bitti said of the disagreement.

"The door is always open, the problem is we have to agree on the role and mission of this organization.

"We have an idea of SportAccord very precisely, very clear. I don’t know if this is acceptable to the counterpart, but he was always calling for unity and unification.Unity is not coming before the agreement, but after the agreement."

Fasel conveys a slightly different position regarding Vizer’s comments and stance.

"It was maybe the wrong way to say it, but in the end there were some points," Fasel said. "I can see there is always the same discussion in the IFs and suddenly there is someone jumping up – he just said very loud what a lot of people are thinking.

"Now, I think it’s wrong that we kill everybody," the hockey chief continued. "The most important thing is not to start a war."

"Sit together, drink a beer, find a solution and go forward."

ASOIF & AIOWF Goals and Objectives

Ricci Bitti and Fasel advised that the integration of sport databases and delivery of the Games were the main areas discussed at the joint summer and winter sports meeting.

Insurance, legal matters, statutes, rules and referees were among other topics touched upon by the two bodies.

"It’s about sharing experiences between a bigger group and a smaller group, which is more specialized," Ricci Bitti said of the cooperation. "They have less people and more specialistic sport, while we are a very wide range."

"More or less all the sports have the same challenge and we can make some synergies between the summer and winter sports federation," Fasel said. "In the end, it’s exactly the same for all federations."

Written by Brian Pinelli in Sochi

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