- Pascal Schmitz resigns as stadium announcer for the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers.
- Schmitz, who previously uncovered the Covid scandal involving Patrick Fischer, wants to avert “damage to the club”.
- Old Facebook posts containing insults have also appeared.
As the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers ice hockey club announces, Pascal Schmitz, who was a speaker at the club’s home games for 14 years, will resign from his position.
Pascal Schmitz is a journalist at SRF and has covered the Covid scandal surrounding the now-sacked National ice hockey coach Patrick Fischer made public: Fischer is said to have attended the Olympic Games in Beijing with a fake Covid vaccination certificate. The information came from a confidential conversation between Schmitz, the media director of the Swiss Ice Hockey Association, and Fischer himself.
As a result, old rifts surrounding the corona pandemic opened up again. Schmitz received both encouragement and nasty hostilities for his revelations. So had about Artist Rolf Knie spoke of “betrayal” and announced that he would avoid the Lakers stadium in Rapperswil as long as Pascal Schmitz was the stadium spokesman there.
Insults in old Facebook posts
«The events of the past few days have prompted me to take this step. “I would like to prevent damage to the Lakers, because this club is a matter close to my heart and an important part of my life,” said Schmitz in the statement.
Schmitz also states that Facebook posts that were around 15 years old recently became public in which he had made insults. “I would like to sincerely apologize to all the people who were offended by me in these posts,” he wrote in the Lakers’ statement.
Lakers condemn posts “strongly”
The ice hockey club, for its part, writes that they were informed about an article in the «World Week» (Paid article) has been informed, in which posts published by Pascal Schmitz are reproduced. It was only possible to get an idea of “the scope of the content” after publication. “The Lakers therefore welcome Pascal Schmitz’s decision after the article has been published and strongly condemn the statements made on social media,” it continues.
Racist derailments
As “Weltwoche” reports, Schmitz is said to have made racist, offensive and sometimes sexist statements on Facebook several times. These include insults against foreigners, derogatory comments and vulgar remarks. He is said to have advised a football referee from Saudi Arabia, who was officiating a game at the 2010 World Cup, to “please referee camel races in the future”. He also allegedly handed out gifts against Germans and Austrians. He described Swiss Air Force jets as “Nazi-like flying bomb squadrons”. Some insults are so obscene that they don’t play for 20 minutes.
Shortly after the affair became known, the posts were apparently deleted. The SRF then told “Weltwoche” that the comments did not correspond to journalistic guidelines. They distance themselves “clearly” from the statements and are “in conversation” with Schmitz.
That’s why the comment field was deactivated
Reto Bollmann (bre), born in 1991, has been supporting the 20 Minuten news desk as editor since the end of 2021. He has a preference for political, scientific and historical topics.
