Newsletter

The crack in Budějovice could have been caused by guardrails

“We’re back at it today and it’s definitely not over for us. It was unpleasant and we don’t want something like that to happen again,” said Maroš. The match between the Czech Republic and Sweden (1:4) was interrupted by the referees in the second period due to a crack in the guardrail, where part of the rink broke off. “It could have been caused by the flexible guardrails, which they are new at the stadium since this season. I asked Mr. (General Manager of Motor České Budějovice Stanislav) Bednařík about it and he said that it could have been caused by hitting the guardrail, when a piece of ice broke off,” said Maroš.

The problem could also have arisen because the Czech Ice Hockey Association placed advertisements on the surface, and because of this, new ice had to be made shortly before the match. “And that could have caused its poorer quality,” said Tomáš Novák, director of the Sports Facilities of the City of České Budějovice.

Due to the glitch, there was a threat of early termination of the match with regard to the safety of the players. In the end, the referees allowed the game to continue. The coach of the Czech national team, Kari Jalonen, welcomed the judges’ decision. Although he noted after the game that the quality of the ice in general was not the highest. “It was very hot in the hall. This just happens, that’s life,” said Jalonen. According to Novák, the conditions at the stadium were the same as during a standard match of the České Budějovice club in the extra league.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending