The Romanian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) decided to accept the request put forth by HSC Csíkszereda and ASC Corona 2010 Brasov to move the dates of Romanian league games that happened to interfere with their schedule in the MOL League and thus letting them truly compete in two leagues.
The condition that the RIHF came up with was that a new agreement be drawn up between the RIHF and the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation (HIHF) that would be signed at the biannual IIHF congressional meeting on September 24th-25th. Since the 2015-16 season of the MOL League starts before that date all changes and modifications will only come to effect once the new contract is signed. What will happen is that every scheduled MOL League game will be played from the start of the season to the end.
“This decision is not what Brasov wanted, but it was expected,” said Zoltán Olti-Pasca president of ASC Corona 2010 Brasov, “The team will be in Hungary from September 10-15 but the they are also scheduled to play two games against Steaua Bucuresti on the 11th and 12th. Obviously the Romanian club does not have interest in helping us because they have a good chance of facing a weaker squad. We have to individually reschedule games and come to agreement with each club for each game, we will not be able to put two strong teams on the ice, however we do have enough manpower to field two full squads in those situations.”
Three HSC Csíkszereda game were rescheduled, this was not because of scheduling but because of technical reasons with the ice. It is more important for Csíkszereda that they do not have conflicting game time on their schedule, and from the 24th-25th on it is guaranteed that this won't happen throughout the season.
“The decision by the RIHF decided that there would not be any conflicts until the end of September, this won us some time and the chance that both federations can work everything out in a timely manner. That would be great for us that there is an agreement so that we can see our future a bit clearer,” said Szilárd Cseke, vice president of HSC Csíkszereda and a member of the Romanian Ice Hockey Federation board.
The HIHF is welcoming the decisions of their Romanian counterparts and the idea of a better future together.
“We are ready to draw up a new contract,” said HIHF secretary general Zoltán Kovács. “We consider the Romanian Ice Hockey Federation our partners, they can delegate representatives for the MOL League oversight committee but even a vice president as well but the emphasis is on the Hungarian side. You can not look past that the Hungarian national team is playing at a much higher level than their neighbors, as 2016 Hungary will be playing in the A-Pool World Championships and the MOL League main sponsor, the MOL Group has signed on with the HIHF as well as all the day to day operations of the league are conducted by employees of the HIHF.”
Photo: László Mudra