As Sébastien Pico confirms to the Walliser Bote, the players, as well as the management, made a financial contribution to the club. Pico was, however, not willing to reveal more details to the newspaper. For now, they are still three-quarters of a million short in sponsoring and they will wait with the sale of the season tickets until the next federal council decision on May 27.
Pico also talked about Monday's decision regarding the promotion to the National League. The league assembly decided an increase in the promotion requirements yesterday. It was a close vote, as the three-quarter majority was just met. All the National League teams, the farm teams (GCK Lions, Ticino Rockets, EVZ Academy), EHC Kloten, and EHC Winterthur voted for the motion.
The new financial requirements, as Pico tells Le Nouvelliste, now require a club to have a secured budget of nine to ten million. If that criterion, among others, is not met, a team will not be promoted to the National League.
"I don't think this principle of reinforced criteria is necessary. It's the only reservation I'd have," Pico states. He adds, however, that for them it will not make much of a difference as they have been financially sound for the last couple of years and should be able to meet the required budget.
