The negotiations between the hockey association and the women's crowns seemed to be going in the right direction. Not least when the union's general secretary, Tommy Boustedt, commented after the first negotiation meeting three weeks ago, promising that the issue of lost pay would be resolved.
But on Friday, the message came that the union wants to make changes to the contract proposal that players submitted two weeks ago. The changes apply specifically to the compensation at national team collections and the insurance issue, which the union believes is the league SDHL's responsibility to provide.
The player union does not agree and the turnaround has caused great disappointment among players in Damkronorna, who chose not to agree to the agreement.
An upset Erika Grahm, the team captain of the national team, tells Sportbladet:
- That they get the message today. It's the SDHL premiere and a damn shot with crowds and sponsors. There is a positive rush around SDHL, but then they go and poke at the women's hockey.
On Friday, it was also clear that the home tournament in Luleå in November will be canceled as a result of the ongoing conflict and the boycott of the national team that the 43 players in the women's crowns supported.
- My and the other players' hope was that we would have found a solution before reaching here, because it is clear that it is not desirable to set up such an important tournament. Naturally, I am naturally very disappointed because the tournament would have been in my hometown, says slope Johanna Fällman to Dagens Nyheter.