The compensation for loss of income, as well as material compensation for games with the Women's Crowns, should not be one of the cornerstones of the conflict between the players and the union. This now confirms SDHL's Chairman Agne Bengtsson.
- It's the same as last year. The clubs should be responsible for that, Bengtsson tells SVT Sport.
Instead, it should be all about the insurance that players now require to participate in national team games.
The players' employers, the clubs in the highest league SDHL, have been given a key role in solving this particular issue with insurance.
A question they must solve for the covenant. For the players.
- Sico (player union) does not want to discuss this with SDHL. You may ask them why. They just want to get an agreement directly with the ice hockey association and not through their employer, Bengtsson tells SVT Sport.
New negotiation date not booked Bengtsson does not want to go into detail about how the process is progressing. But confirms that they are sitting with the insurance issue right now.
It is the money from the new commercial agreements that will be prioritized for this expenditure item.
If the insurance comes into place, it could be the key to finally finding a solution to the conflict, Bengtsson says. Sico's representative Klara Stenberg is on the same line.
In such cases, the insurance would mean something completely new and unique for Swedish women's hockey.
- No insurance has ever existed and it must be solved, Stenberg says.
The union's secretary general Tommy Boustedt tells SVT Sport that no new negotiation date has been booked.