The dispute between six Naisleijonien players and Pasi Mustonen was the biggest investigation of 2022, says Suek’s head of investigation.
A week ago, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association’s disciplinary board issued a decision against six Naisleijonien players and the former head coach of the national team Pasi Musto in a dispute concerning
The ice hockey association’s disciplinary committee gave the goalie For Noora Rädy four months and Mustose a three-month suspension from competition.
The decision was based on a 300-page report. It was the responsibility of Suek, the Finnish sports ethics center, which took over the case for investigation in October 2022. Suek submitted its report to the Ice Hockey Federation in February 2023.
Suek’s head of investigation Jouko Ikonen according to him, the investigation took about two months of working hours from him and Suek’s other investigator.
– The working time we use is equivalent to around 10,000 euros, Ikonen says.
He confirms that it was Suek’s longest single investigation of 2022.
“Top 3 level” in its size category
The decision of the Ice Hockey Federation’s disciplinary board came 14 months after Suek had handed over his report to it.
According to Ikonen, the case that Räty and Mustose were heavily involved in was “top 3-level” in the history of Suek, which began in 2016.
When making a comparison, it must be taken into account that Ikonen managed the investigative team alone until 2021. After that, he got a colleague to help him.
– Since then, we have been able to shorten the investigation times. On average, cases are in the order of 1–2 months.
Ikonen emphasizes the importance of mediation in resolving disputes. In the hockey saga, the parties initially agreed to mediate based on Suek’s presentation, but the players withdrew from it a few days later.
– If mediation is possible, it is preferred. These cases are not crimes in principle, but the public interest makes them big stories. Based on the initial information, mediation would have been the best solution here, says Ikonen.
More than 200 ethical declarations
In practice, Suek operates solely with funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture. Its annual budget is around 3.2 million euros. Half of this goes to anti-doping work.
Suek’s other tasks include combating competition manipulation, promoting stand safety and ethical issues in sports.
In the latter, Suek invests around 5–10 percent of its budget.
The number of reported cases in this category has increased. In 2022, 140 reports related to ethical violations were made to Suek. Ikonen says that last year the number was 209.
– 16 of these led to Suek’s investigation, and in four cases Suek reported to the authorities. Suek investigates only serious ethical violations.
After the decision of the Ice Hockey Federation’s disciplinary board, there has been a discussion on social media about how much resources the investigation of the case consumed. Ikonen describes Suek’s contribution as moderate.
– I don’t think this system can be misused, as it is now understood, says Ikonen.
This would not happen again
Investigating the dispute between the female lions players and Mustonen was a kind of last favor from Suek.
In 2022, several sports federations signed the rules and regulations regarding serious ethical violations initiated by the Finnish Olympic Committee.
In the current disciplinary system, Suek carries out an investigation and makes a report on it. After this, those making the disciplinary claim make a disciplinary claim. The final decision is made by the disciplinary committee that deals with ethical violations in sports, which is independent of Suek.
When the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation made an investigation request to Suek in October 2022, the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation was not committed to the sport’s common disciplinary regulations regarding serious ethical violations.
– It was a new matter in the sense that uniform regulations had been drawn up for serious ethical violations. Before 2022, several federations, including tennis, gymnastics and figure skating, asked Suek for investigative help. After the investigation, the disciplinary bodies of the sports federations were responsible for the disciplinary proceedings.
– When the common rules came into force in 2022, for a year we were “in the spirit of service” even for those unions that were not yet involved, but were considering committing to the disciplinary regulations. From the beginning of 2023, we would not have taken this case of the Ice Hockey Federation into consideration without membership of the system, says Ikonen.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation committed to comply with common disciplinary regulations regarding serious ethical violations from the end of summer 2023.