The request for clarification concerns a junior match last autumn in which an opponent is suspected of having made a racist slur against a player of the team from Lahti. The councillor also wants an answer from the association about its actions in relation to incidents experienced by a Pelicans junior in 2021.
The Equality Ombudsman asks the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to clarify whether the handling of the case of a junior hockey player from Lahti violated the Equality Act and whether it constitutes indirect discrimination.
Last autumn, a 13-year-old boy on the Pelicans team told his coach at the end of a match that he had been the victim of a racist slur. The Lahti coach ordered his team to the locker room and demanded that the match referees investigate the situation. The game was not completed.
The Ice Hockey Federation banned the coach from officiating for three matches and fined Pelicans one thousand euros.
The union has until January 20th to respond to the authorized person’s request for clarification.
The request for clarification also requires answers on two cases from the year before last
The junior hockey player from Lahti has also faced racist behavior in two games, one of which was in April and the other in November 2021.
Another matter was discussed with the opponent on the spot in the tournament. The JuniorPelicans and the player’s guardian will report the single game in November to the Häme region of the Ice Hockey Association and to the disciplinary officer. The notification has not led to any measures or interventions.
In the clarification request, the equality commissioner also needs an answer to how the Ice Hockey Federation has tried to clarify the cases of 2021.
– Due to the described repeated neglects to deal with racism, a presumption of indirect discrimination arises in the case. The practice, in which reports of racist insults are not investigated using all sources of information and racist acts are therefore not addressed, leads to the fact that persons who are the target of racism cannot play hockey on an equal footing and thus find themselves in a disadvantageous position as prohibited in Section 13 of the Equality Act, the inquiry request of the Equality Commissioner states.
The Lahtelaisueura Junior-Pelicans ry has appealed to the Sports Legal Protection Board about the suspension of its coach and the EUR 1,000 fine imposed on the club.
Etelä-Suomen Sanomat was the first to report on the authorized person’s request for clarification.