The Basketball Association took a stand on the “banter” that caused the disapproval of the head coach of Lahti Basketball.
Timo Uusitalo,
Henna Korkala
21.1. 18:32•Updated 21.1. 19:09
The rules and disciplinary unit of the Basketball Association has given the head coach of Lahti Basketball, which plays in men’s I division A Kristian Palotie warning.
Lahti Basketball, coached by Palotie, beat Oulu NMKY on January 10 with a historic score of 201–52. It is the biggest victory in the history of the men’s 1st division.
The so-called, intended only for own players, became public on social media. match scout, where Oulu’s players were described demeaningly.
The prank, which caused widespread aggravation in the sports circle, was revealed by the inner circle of Lahti Basketball.
Initially, Palotie denied being behind the “joke”. The coach commented on the disparaging “match scout” the day after the crushing match as follows:
– That “funny version” really doesn’t match my own or the club’s values. We will figure it out within the team, Palotie wrote in X.
However, today Palotie admitted responsibility for the “joke” and apologized for the aggravation he caused.
reached Palotie by phone. He says that Scout, who was meant to be part of the team, was a massive error of judgment that will not happen again.
– I have been in contact with Oulu NMKY and we had a good discussion. There is an important match in Oulu next week, for which I plan to buy 10 match tickets. I want to somehow make up for the stupid act.
The Rules and Disciplinary Unit of the Basketball Association also considered the “modified version of the match scout” to be offensive and degrading to the opponent’s players.
Based on section 4 subsection 1 section 4 of the disciplinary rules, it ordered Lahti Basketball’s Kristian Palotie a warning.
“Things went wrong in every way”
Urheilu basketball expert and coach Ilpo Rantanen sees that Palotie could not be given a greater sanction than a warning because he did not break any other rules.
– He could have immediately apologized for his mistake. Palotie went on to juice itself with a crushing victory and in a way the atmosphere around the issue was therefore more sensitive than it would have been otherwise. Because of that, this is kind of out of style, and things fell apart in every way.
Rantanen thinks that the party that leaked the matter from within Lahti Basketball probably didn’t see Palotie’s “joking” as a terribly good thing either.
As a basic tip for crisis communication, Rantanen says that it is always worth admitting all your mistakes right away.
Story edited on 21.1. at 19:08: Added Kristian Palotie’s comment.