According to Roope Rädy, the vice-chairman of Eteläpääty ry, the supporters’ association is not present in the Jokerie playoffs.
According to the South End, “The continuation of the Joker’s games will cause immeasurable damage to the entire club, which may never be repaired again.”
Vice-chairman of Eteläpääty ry Roope Rädyn according to the supporters’ association, the Jokers are withdrawing from the series due to events between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia has concentrated its forces on the Ukrainian border, where the threat of war is obvious. The supporters’ association has previously taken a strong stance on the human rights situation in Belarus and opposed the Joker’s gambling in Minsk.
– Is the situation not quite clear? We are referring to the events between Russia and Ukraine, Räty tells Urheilu.
– It’s really hard that it’s been gone so far. As we said in the press release, we see that this continuation of games could have a big and long-lasting impact on the Jokers brand. However, the Jokers is perhaps the biggest sports brand in this country. I think it is the duty of our fans to cherish it, Räty tells Sport.
In the press release, Eteläpääty hopes that the Jokerit ry, which runs the club’s junior activities, will protect the club by withdrawing the club logo from the representative team playing in KHL.
– They are responsible for the use of the logo in the final games, and they certainly have their own agreements with oy. I don’t know how easy it is to negotiate with them, but that’s their key issue, Räty says.
Chairman of the Jokerit Association Kim Borgström was unable to respond directly to the possible demolition clauses the association has for the use of the name and logo with the Jokerit Hockey Club.
The Jokers left the SM League in the spring of 2014 and moved on to play for KHL, a Russian-led series. KHL has been described by the Russian president Vladimir Putin creation.
Over the years, many supporters have hoped for the Jokers to return to the Finnish Ice Hockey League.
– I don’t know if the league matters that much. The main thing would be that we could stand behind the club or the representative team. That there would be values there that we could support, Räty said.
The Jokers have been sharpened to start the playoffs against Moscow’s Spartak in home games on March 1st and 3rd. According to Rädy, the South End supporters’ association is not present at the matches.
– Everyone as an individual decides what to do and go to the hall or not, whether to protest or not. As for the fan association, we are not involved in this activity now. We’re not watching games, and we don’t encourage Jokers at KHL.
From now on?
– It is difficult for me to see a scenario where the situation would become much brighter so that we could change this position.