As Filippo Lombardi, president of HC Ambrì-Piotta, tells Keystone-SDA, he assumes that they will have to make use of these loans, however, there are still clarifications to be made on how the required cut to the payroll could be performed and under what exact conditions the loans will have to be paid back: "When all the elements are in place and clarified, we will decide as a club."
Talking about the past season, Lombardi adds that this will not be the most disastrous year in the club's history: "The club has no reserves and still has certain debts from the past to pay off but things have generally been better for us recently. However, next season will at best be really critical due to the Corona crisis."
For HC Sierre and EHC Visp goes the same thing, as they tell Le Nouvelliste: to date, there are still far too many open questions, points to be refined and details to be clarified before taking a more precise position on these loans.
For instance, Sébastien Pico, team manager of EHC Visp wonders about the payroll cuts: "It is specified that the wages will have to be reduced by 20% and that these loans should not be used to pay excessive salaries. What exactly do we mean by excessive?"
Alain Bonnet, president of HC Sierre, is on the same page: "The constraints linked to these loans are such that I doubt the clubs will make use of them. Today, they appear to be especially dangerous in the medium and long term."
That is why both clubs are not considering applying for any kind of loan in the immediate future. All the more so as they have already taken advantage of a loan of CHF 500,000 (EHC Visp) and CHF 340,000 francs (HC Sierre), in order to meet short-term liquidity concerns. Both Bonnet and Pico confirm that they don't need another loan right now and that additional credit will depend on the situation this autumn.
