The Lahtelaisueura Junior-Pelicans ry appealed to the Sports Legal Protection Board before Christmas about the suspension of its coach and the fine of one thousand euros imposed on the club.
Lahti’s junior ice hockey club Junior-Pelicans ry has appealed to the Sports Legal Protection Board about the suspension of its coach and the fine imposed on the club.
The Ice Hockey Federation banned Soka for three matches and fined Pelicans a thousand euros. The Pelicans have not swallowed the punishments they received without biting.
Addressing racism brought punishments for the coach and the club, because the rules related to the match event were broken. Racist yelling and match suspension are handled separately in the Ice Hockey Federation, even though the former led to the latter.
– They are two different things that cannot be separated from each other. They are very much related to each other. I strongly expect that some correction will come to the punishments of both the club and the coach. We see that there have been problems with the way things have happened, Suomalainen says.
After the incident, the Ice Hockey Federation has been criticized for downplaying racism. The union responded to the criticism by stating that it takes a serious view of discriminatory and offensive behavior and in no way downplays racism.
According to Suomalainen, the discussions between the club and the Ice Hockey Federation have been factual.
– Let’s hope that the matter will produce something good. The message has already come from the Ice Hockey Federation that they are trying to create new guidelines so that this does not happen in the future. It has been a big wish for us too, when we started to take the matter forward.