Swiss ice hockey is scheduled to host the world championships in May but is facing questions over a coach’s fake Olympic paperwork.
Published on 14 April 2026
Swiss ice hockey coach Patrick Fischer has admitted that he used a certificate to falsely claim he was vaccinated against COVID-19 to avoid China’s travel restrictions for the 2022 Winter Olympics, where he led his country.
In a statement, Fischer, who is in charge of the Swiss team, said they made a “serious mistake in this matter” by traveling to Beijing with the men’s team using false paperwork.
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“I’m very sorry if I let people down with this situation,” Fischer said. “I was in an extraordinary personal crisis because I didn’t want to get vaccinated. At the same time, I certainly didn’t want to let my team down at the Olympic Games.”
Swiss public broadcaster SRF said it confronted Fischer with documents showing he was fined about 39,000 Swiss francs ($50,000) by local authorities in 2023 for document forgery after purchasing certificates on social media. The SRF said that he made his admission public shortly afterwards.
Switzerland will host the World Championship next month. After this Fischer was already about to step down and the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said it considered the case closed.
Fischer is one of Switzerland’s most successful hockey coaches ever. He has been in the position since 2015 and has taken the team to three Olympics, as well as three silver medals at the World Championships.
His team reached the quarterfinals at the 2022 Olympics, where COVID-19 testing was a requirement, and the National Hockey League remained sidelined due to the pandemic.
Ahead of the 2022 Olympics, China had some of the strictest COVID-19 rules in the world. It insisted that any athlete going to the Games must either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or sit out three weeks of hotel quarantine, as Swiss snowboarder Patrizia Kummer did.
The International Olympic Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
