The national umbrella organization of athletics, the Finnish Sports Confederation (SUL) has published a statementwhere it requires the Finnish sports community to act in anti-racism work.
Among other things, the statement calls for an open discussion about anti-racism work from the point of view of sports organizations, as well as for organizations and the sports community to take responsibility in handling cases.
– The world of sports and sports organizations, as a rule, actively work to combat racism. However, all this work will be watered down if, when the truth comes, panic strikes and reputational damage scares more than justice. At the same time, the victim of racism is completely forgotten, in the worst case, he is not heard at all. Every sports organization must be a pioneer in the fight against racism, SUL’s press release says.
The statement has been signed by the chairman of SUL Riikka Pakarinen and a Finnish football referee Mohammad Al-Emara. Voted as the best referee in the Veikkausliiga five times, Al-Emara has been active in football in anti-racism work.
In recent weeks, the Jääkieksliitto’s actions in a case of racism that occurred in a junior hockey match have been discussed in the public.
In a match played in the fall, a 13-year-old player said that he was the target of a racist insult. Only the team and coach of the player who was targeted by racism were punished for the incident. The case has been discussed in the media for more than half a year.
SUL does not mention the Ice Hockey Association in its statement, but Al-Emara takes a stand on the matter in an interview with Urheilu.
Al-Emara says that he feels that the Ice Hockey Association has failed to take responsibility in handling the case. He describes that, in his eyes, the union has not told and opened up the matter enough.
– Responsibility and communication have failed. I got the impression that the issue is being downplayed a bit. Now we have come away from those times when things were magically swept under the carpet. That we could open our eyes little by little and start working, says Al-Emara.
– Now there is a lot of chaos, but in the end we haven’t gotten anywhere. It is a very sad signal.
Pakarinen does not comment individually on the racism case of the Jääkiekliitto. According to Pakarinen, SUL’s message is broadly intended for the sports community.
– I don’t really want to interfere in the internal affairs of another union at this point, Pakarinen says.
The Ice Hockey Federation is responsible
President of the Ice Hockey Association Harri Nummela commented to Urheilu on Al-Emara’s views.
– First of all, I deeply regret that our activities have created such an image that we would have belittled this topic or theme. Racism or other inappropriate behavior has no place in hockey or any other sport or club activity. We do constantly take preventive measures in our clubs and union, Nummela regrets.
– In the big picture, we, as well as many other actors in society, have a big place to look in the mirror and see how visions, declarations and goals can be better implemented and reflected in everyday activities in the future. The ice hockey association has a clear will and desire to act so that policies and goals in this matter become reality in everyday life, he says.
Last fall, a player of the Lahti Pelicans U13 junior team told his coach at the end of the match that he was the target of a racist insult. Pelicans coach Juha Sokka pulled his team off the rink in the middle of the match.
Sokka demanded the referees of the match to clarify the situation and ordered his team to the locker room. The game was not completed. The Ice Hockey Federation banned Soka for three matches and fined Pelicans a thousand euros for violating competition rules.
After this, earlier this year, the equality commissioner demanded an explanation of the case from the Ice Hockey Association. The equality commissioner finally made a settlement proposal in the case, which the junior hockey player in question, his guardian and coach Sokka accepted as reasonable.
The Ice Hockey Federation rejected the proposal and filed its own settlement proposal on the matter.
In its own response, the Ice Hockey Federation said that it has investigated the case thoroughly, and it has no evidence of the use of racial slurs.
– When the matter was investigated, the investigations concluded that we have a situation in which two young people have a word for a word. In such a situation, no sanction of any kind can and should not be imposed, Nummela states.
“Let’s collectively panic”
Currently, the public discussion served as one of the starting points for the position, says Pakarinen.
– This issue needs to be actively brought up, and the presidents of the sports organizations have not talked too much about this issue. Then it is important that sports organizations as well as clubs and coaches are aware and commit to the work that is being done against racism. That’s why we wanted to raise this issue.
– Of course, this issue has been discussed a lot in the public eye as well, even those unpleasant cases have been brought up that require intervention on their part, Pakarinen adds.
Al-Emara, on the other hand, has followed the current public debate about the activities of sports organizations in handling cases of racism with understanding.
– I want to look at the big picture. When such an incident occurs, we collectively panic and the reputational damage is frightening. It is understandable, because racism is a serious matter. However, too often the victims are forgotten and the conversation creates a terrible chaos. Nothing gets done. I don’t think it’s the right way, he summarizes.
In his opinion, sports organizations have done a lot of good anti-racism and equality-promoting work in recent years. In reality, this may not always be seen.
– We have to get rid of the collective panic. Disciplinary systems and operating methods must be made so that things are handled much more neatly, without forgetting the victims.
Al-Emara makes one wish that he would like Finnish sports organizations to adhere to.
– Let’s take responsibility, everyone for their own part.