A proposal for a ceiling of 500 people, to compare with the current one of 50 people, has been investigated by the government, and the hope was that a change could take effect on 1 October.
But now it will take at least another two weeks, until October 15, before it enters into force in the sports arenas.
SHL writes in a press release that they "believe that today's announcement does not reflect the conditions for conducting safe events and want a percentage-based increase in the future".
- We are in an ongoing pandemic and have enormous respect for the complexity of the issue.
However, we believe that today's message is not based on the elite leagues' capacity to conduct safe events.
A percentage-based increase would mean that both the small and the large player can conduct safe events based on their respective conditions, says the league's CEO Michael Marchal.
"Important first step"
Anders Larsson, chairman of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, is somewhat more optimistic.
- Today's announcement from the government on the audience issue signals an important first step in, in a responsible way, getting the audience back in our ice rinks and arenas.
For the broad ice hockey business, the message is good, while for the elite business, mainly on the men's side, it still means great financial challenges, he says, and adds:
- Ultimately, the opportunity to bring in more audiences is a matter of survival for our elite clubs.