Salary cap coming to Switzerland's National League?

It has been clear in recent years that Switzerland’s National League is the biggest spender on hockey talent in Europe. Last year, Genève-Servette won the Champions Hockey League with five members of the Finnish national team on its roster. 

This off-season alone, Adam Tambellini, Markus Granlund, David Sklenička, Jacob Larsson, Janne Kuokkanen and Waltteri Merelä – all non-Swiss players who have either played in the NHL or represented their countries at major international events in the past – have transferred to Switzerland from elsewhere, presumably because they can earn more money than anywhere else in Europe.

But as is the case elsewhere, not all National League teams generate equal revenues and apparently not all teams are happy with this free spending. SwissHockeyNews.ch reported last December that 14 of the league’s 16 clubs were in favor of exploring some sort of spending limit on salaries but that is not legal according to Swiss law. The Swiss hockey website is now reporting that could soon change, citing an X (Twitter) thread by Swiss radio commentator and political reporter Philipp Burkhardt.

The thread notes that SC Bern and the ZSC Lions are the only National League teams in opposition.

“This is a complicated issue that I can’t really cover in three minutes,” said Bern CEO Marc Lüthi when asked for comment at the European Hockey Awards in Prague. “What I can tell you is this: If this were an initiative from the clubs in our league to control costs, we could get on board with it. What I don’t like is the government trying to impose financial constraints on privately-owned businesses. I’m somewhat of a liberal in this way. I’m for less government involvement in these matters.”

Not surprisingly, player agents are also against the idea of a salary cap.

“For me, it makes no sense to accept a salary cap because it goes against the well-being and comfort of the players. In Switzerland, the current system works and players aren't overpaid. We have to stop trying to revolutionize everything,” Gaëtan Voisard, president of The 6ix Sports Leadership, was quoted in the December report.

Although Switzerland’s Council of States – the upper house of the Federal Assembly – has agreed on changes that would make a salary cap legal, it is still unclear when it could conceivably be imposed. National League CEO Dennis Vaucher reportedly stated in December that it could be a few years away.