Ilves sports director Timo Koskela says that it is a single death threat received by the player, which also concerned the player’s family.
Ilves, which leads the ice hockey SM league, has filed a criminal complaint about the message received by its player, the club’s sports director Timo Koskela tells. Aamulehti was the first to report about it.
Ilves head coach Antti Pennanen said yesterday that offensive messages have been sent to the team’s players on social media that have crossed the line.
– Players receive a lot of critical messages on social media, but yesterday the limit was crossed. When death threats start coming, and the family and children are threatened with killing, it is absolutely unacceptable. This is the police matter now and in the future, Pennanen said.
Timo Koskela says that it is a single death threat received by the player, which also concerned the player’s family.
– This is clearly a police and crime reporting matter. When we start threatening our lives, we are totally over the line. I think this is a matter of course.
Ilves has lost five of its last seven matches, and the team has received harsh feedback on social media, even though it is still leading the SM league.
– Yes, there are all kinds of critical and even outrageous messages, but this is the first time in my career that I have heard that someone has been approached with such an outrageous death threat, says Koskela.
Koskela played in the SM league, Allsvenskan, Denmark and Switzerland in the 2000s and has been Ilves’ sports director since the 2019–2020 season.
Koskela emphasizes that a death threat is a completely different and much more serious matter than usual rude messages.
– If someone criticizes the game performance or otherwise criticizes, that’s one thing. But when we start making death threats, it’s a completely different story. Yes, this new social media behavior is an unfortunate phenomenon. Anonymously shouting nonsense anyway.
The sports director sees the social media chatter received by the players as a bigger phenomenon than hockey.
– They come for athletes, officials and club management in every sport. If people don’t even dare to comment with their own name, they don’t matter in terms of the operation, but the trend is unfortunate, and it’s probably a place for a bigger discussion, in which direction we’re going.