[ad_1]
Bern Health Director Pierre Alain Schnegg. Image: keystone
Eismeister Zaugg
Marc Lüthi’s great opponent is a “Marc Lüthi of Bern politics”
SCB director Marc Lüthi (59) is the charismatic professional sports fighter in Bern. Who is the director of health of Bern, Pierre Alain Schnegg (58), his political opponent and responsible for the prohibition of major events in power? His leadership style is very similar to Marc Lüthi. Now it is also clear: the league does not want the championship to be interrupted or canceled after restrictions in the canton of Bern.
Bourgeois politics would probably correspond more closely to the character of Marc Lüthi. Wisely, he is strictly politically and religiously neutral and in more than 20 years as SCB leader he has never been classified in the camp of the left or the right. Knowing well that his clients – SCB supporters – are of the most diverse political, cultural and denominational tendencies. His party is the SCB. And yet it is like an irony of history that he and Bern’s health and social director, Pierre Alain Schnegg, came into conflict with a bourgeois politician of all peoples.
“Schnegg” means “snail” in the Bernese dialect. Which does not fit at all with the style of government of the social and health director of Bern. Pierre Alain Schnegg is more of a turbo in the Bern government apparatus, which can delay any decision until the last day. He does not come from one of Bern’s influential families and he is not a lawyer either. He is a climber of the simplest origins in the old Bern theme area, Jura. He grew up in Bévilard, high above the Tavannnes Valley, where the climate is harsh, and now lives in the neighboring municipality of Champoz.
Then a Jurassic. With French as my mother tongue, but quite capable of speaking Bernese German. The father worked in a machine factory. The mother raised all three children. Then the rapid ascent. Business learning. Degree in Computer Engineering. Founder of the company. In 2004, Ernst & Young even named him “Entrepreneur of the Year”. 2013 he joined the SVP. In 2014 he sold his IT company Solvaxis to Swedish investors, went into politics at age 52 and was elected to the Grand Council of the Canton of Bern. Two years later he is in government. His opponents complain: an upstart SVP.
The fact that he went ahead and clipped the wings of professional popular sport in his subject area with a limit of 1000 people before all other cantons, corresponds to his way of doing politics. And Marc Lüthi, who is about the same age, probably wouldn’t politicize much differently in terms of leadership style in an executive office.
Pierre Alain Schnegg once said that he considered the change from a company’s executive floor to health and wellness management a culture shock. But he found his way quickly. The political apparatus has not tamed and slowed it down. It frustrates politics and now says the good thing about politics is that you can change something. It’s no wonder, he complains, that if Schnegg has his way, no one who disagrees should have a voice. From time to time similar complaints can be heard from inside SCB’s fox den.
Marc Lüthi and Pierre Alain Schnegg remain similar. Image: keystone
Now we know what drives politician Pierre Alain Schnegg. Someone who has crossed swords with him many times puts it this way: “He is very jovial, but you cannot see through him. You never know what you are doing. “A characterization that would not apply to Marc Lüthi. The SCB manager is a direct communicator and tends to reveal his strategies and visions and” sell “them to the public; he has to show less consideration internally and externally than the head of a government department. “Maybe that would be the case,” says Marc Lüthi. “But on political issues I would have a different opinion …”
Clubs seek grants
The lifting of the 1000 limit in Bern cannot be achieved either by an “express march” of political institutions or by public pressure. Times are too difficult, too uncertain. After all, it is not just about the economic survival of sports companies, but also about public health and the healthcare system. Meanwhile, sports companies in the Bern area are concentrating on their efforts to obtain state funds as financial aid for survival.
A common approach of the “big four” in the Bern area (YB, SCB, SCL Tigers, Biel) is difficult. Sports companies that are exposed to intense sporting and economic competition exchange information. But they cannot speak with one voice. They also couldn’t come up with a single joint statement now. The SCB and YB have addressed the public with an open letter. “We agreed and decided that we will not take any further public action,” says Langnau CEO Peter Müller.
But the four main sports companies in Bern have sent their most influential representatives to women and are lobbying the government headquarters in Bern. And they also mobilize their informants in the other cantons. The intervention of the director of the league, Denis Vaucher is not foreseen. Rather, it should now be achieved at the federal level that state loans for professional sports that have already been approved by parliament are definitively converted into grants. And is it possible to get a grant from the Bern treasury?
Aborting the league is not a problem
League director Denis Vaucher says the championship will continue despite the 1,000 limit. “An interruption is not a problem.” There is still enough time to make up for postponed matches.
After the last season, which ended prematurely, there is also a clear regulation in the official game regulations: if the championship is canceled, there is no champion in the National League or in the Swiss League and therefore not promoted to the National League (the descent is suspended anyway). Which could be very bitter for Kloten in certain circumstances: The Zurich-based company was already deprived of the promotional campaign last spring. The SCB and Langenthal, the 2019 champions, on the other hand, would remain defending champions for another season if they were canceled.
The regulations are clear:
SIHF regulations
A change to these regulations would only be possible in the framework of a league match between the clubs of the National League and the Swiss League with a three-quarter majority, which is very, very difficult to achieve.
