Plzeň and Boleslav appeal points deductions

As expected, HC Plzeň 1929 and BK Mladá Boleslav have both submitted formal appeals of the decision to strip them of points for using players that had been improperly registered.

Plzeň was the first to file an appeal, on Thursday, with Mladá Boleslav following suit on Friday. The other penalised club, HC Vagnerplast Kladno, has said that it will not appeal. The deadline for filing is Saturday.

Two weeks ago, Stanislav Šulc, who is the Director of the Association of Professional Clubs (APK), ruled that the three clubs would lose all points they earned in games that the improperly registered players participated in. Mladá Boleslav lost 22 points, Plzeň 19, and Kladno 8. The APK is composed of the 14 member clubs of the Tipsport Extraliga, and is given authority to govern the league by the Czech Ice Hockey Association (ČSLH).

"There are many points of contention, but at this point we do not want to release the details. In fairness, the appeal board or the league director should be notified first," Tomáš Tesař, the lawyer speaking on behalf of the Plzeň club, told www.idnes.cz on Thursday.

At a press conference on Friday, Mladá Boleslav attorney Jan Tůma was more forthcoming.

"After considering all the circumstances, we have decided to appeal. Mr. Šulc has been notified," he said. While the club acknowledges the registration errors, they feel that such a strong penalty is not warranted for a clerical oversight that they did not benefit from. Furthermore, Tůma believes that Šulc does not have the authority to make such a ruling. 


"There are several reasons for the appeal. We affirm, and we have a strong case that Mr. Šulc isn't authorized to make such decisions. Such things are for the general meeting of the Association of Professional Clubs. In our opinion, APK Director Stanislav Šulc handing the case is in violation of applicable rules of the APK and the Czech Ice Hockey Association. In league history, there have been a number of cases that were similar, and in these cases the guilty clubs were never given such a high penalty."

At the time of Šulc's ruling, Martin Straka and Cyril Suk, the General Managers for the two clubs, indicated that they planned to appeal.


The case will now move into the hands of an independent appeals board.