Tingsryd (Taif) requires at least a replay.
“Taif submits the matter to the Competition Committee for assessment but requests at least that the match be replayed in a place where safety and fair play can be guaranteed. In support of this request, Taif claims that the match was never completed. What happened in the last quarter of the match was a parody. The competition committee’s decision must be based on the fact that the development of events in the third period is equated with the match being interrupted,” says a document that the club sent in an email to the Swedish Ice Hockey Association’s competition committee with chairman Jan Pyrell and coach Fredrik Glader as the sender.
“Incomprehensible”
It further states:
“This is the worst thing Taif has ever experienced. We believe that SIF (Swedish Ice Hockey Federation), the referees and HA’s (Hockeyallsvenskan) sporting director handled the situation squarely and insensitively. They have ignored the health and well-being of the players. This is a work environment issue and would have been handled by the decision makers as such. The match would have been finished. Everything else is incomprehensible”.
It was about five minutes into the third period, when Kristianstad was leading 5–1, that a hard shot was thrown onto the ice and a loud bang was heard. The referee broke the match, sent the players to the dressing room and a little later the arena was emptied of spectators.
“Unfortunate”
The match was then played over, against Tingsryd’s wishes, and once play resumed the players just waited out time.
Erik Ryman, the hockey allsvenskan’s sporting director, told TT last Saturday that the league, confederation and security had a crisis meeting and he answered the following when asked why the match was resumed – even though Tingsryd did not want to finish the game:
— The formality, which the referees followed, is that a new match time should be set when safety is assured. How it (the match) played out is unfortunate in that way. But in terms of security, it was a safe event.