Chur lose points on technicality

Chur's September win has been turned into a 5-0 victory for Lausanne Keystone

With just two wins to their name all season, Chur ice hockey club suffered further misery on Thursday when they saw one of those victories annulled following a breach of the Swiss league rules.

The top division’s bottom side were judged to have fielded an unlicensed player during September’s 5-4 win over fellow strugglers Lausanne.

Defender Andreas John was named on Chur’s official teamsheet for the match, after joining the Graubünden club from EHC Lenzerheide, but the 19-year-old player had not yet received his official licence from the league.

In accordance with the league rules, disciplinary judge Heinz Tännler announced that the match result would be overturned and a 5-0 victory handed to Lausanne.

Already on course for the relegation play-outs before the decision, the halving of Chur’s points from four to two is unlikely to make any difference to the club’s desperately slim chances of making the play-offs.

However Lausanne’s unexpected gain of two points could turn out to be of great significance to the side from canton Vaud. Having now been gifted their fifth win of the season, the newly-promoted team find themselves just above the cut-off line for the play-offs. They have also played one match less than the teams immediately below them.

Chur, who have also been fined SFr 300 for the mistake, have five days to appeal against their punishment.

swissinfo with agencies