Baseball player Joni Rytkönen’s ban continues until the end of the year. In addition, the ban was extended to all sports.
10:19•Updated 10:42
The sports legal protection board has extended the baseball player Joni Rytkönen the ban to continue until the end of 2024.
In the original decision, Rytkönen’s suspension was to end on the last day of June. In addition to this, the ban has been set to apply not only to baseball but also to all other sports.
Rytkönen was banned from competition by the sport’s ethical disciplinary board administered by the Olympic Committee in January. Rytkönen was considered to have sexually harassed 15- and 14-year-old girls at the time of the crime and was guilty of sexual harassment.
In its extension decision, the Judicial Security Board considered that the harassment of 31-year-old Rytkönen took place within the sports community and that Rytkönen’s position as a well-known super player played a significant role and enabled the prohibited procedure.
Serious ethical violations of sport and its disciplinary regulations apply in the case.
In addition, a criminal investigation is ongoing into the cases, the preliminary investigation of which was completed in April. Both cases related to Rytköse have been investigated as sexual abuse of a child.
The Finnish Baseball Federation announced in May 2023 that Rytkö, representing Joensuu Maila, was suspected of harassment. After this, the matter was transferred to the investigation of the Finnish Sports Ethics Center. At that time, the police also started investigating the case.
Rytkönen has played in Superpes since 2013 and most recently in Joensuu Maila. The team removed the player from their lineup in May when sexual harassment came to light.