Former players and former head coach of the Women’s Lions Pasi Mustonen the handling of the dispute was resolved on Friday, when the Ice Hockey Federation’s disciplinary committee punished Musto and the national team’s former goalkeeper Noora Rätä with non-competes.
According to the disciplinary committee, both of them violated sections of the competition rules dealing with ethical regulations, especially subsections regarding honesty and responsibility.
Mustonen received a three-month ban, Räty four.
Chairman of the Ice Hockey Association’s Disciplinary Committee Eemeli Saros tells how the committee arrived at the punishments in question.
Why was inappropriate behavior not punished?
Pasi Mustonen was suspended for three months for two violations.
Black described to MTV Räty violated the “legislation of the Ministry of Education” when Räty refused to go to the World Cup in August 2021 citing busy work. There is no related legislation.
In addition, it is about Mustonen from an interview with Ilta-Sanom. Mustonen said that he had read about Räty’s refusal in Ilta-Sanom, but according to the disciplinary committee, Räty has informed Mustone of the reason for his absence.
– We considered that Mustonen has committed two different acts, which firstly fall under our jurisdiction, and which are not time-barred, or on the other hand, have not occurred after the disciplinary committee’s authority over him has ended, Eemeli Saros, chairman of the disciplinary committee, tells Urheilu.
In the material submitted to the disciplinary committee, six former players of the Women’s Lions claimed that Mustonen had been guilty of improper behavior for years, which, according to them, has included, for example, humiliating the players and violating their physical integrity.
Why didn’t this become a punishment, instead it came from the points mentioned earlier?
– The display we received did not show that the display threshold was exceeded in this respect, says Saros.
How come there was no evidence for this?
– We have certain criteria based on which we evaluate the evidence, and in these matters, sufficient evidence was not presented.
If several players have felt that there has been inappropriate behavior and then there is a documentary ignoring this, how do you see it?
– First of all, we have had no information about those letters, they have not been shown to us. We are in no way able to judge what is presented in the letters.
– We don’t know who made those claims, and therefore presenting a counter-evidence for them is also impossible, so we cannot base a solution on facts for which we have no evidence.
Why was Räty punished more severely?
Rädy was considered to have tried to influence Mustonen’s position as the head coach of the Women’s Lions. Räty, who was left out of the Beijing Olympic team, had actively pushed the matter forward and collected letters from other players about Mustonen’s activities.
– It was considered that Rädy had such a reprehensible motive in the background. There was an acceptable motive, but also a motive that was considered to require punitive measures, says Saros.
– It has been established there in the decision that maybe he had a certain revenge behind it, which he himself has told a little about.
How did you get the evidence for the revenge aspect?
– It was largely based on Rädy’s own story and, on the other hand, on what he has brought up publicly about the matter. In addition to that, to the overall consideration and certain messages that were presented as written evidence.
Why did Räty get a longer punishment than Mustonen?
– This is very widely opened in the reasons for the decision, but it is based on our assessment of the reprehensibility of the actions, what has happened after the actions, and overall consideration.
If this had happened after and not during the Beijing Olympics, would the attitude have changed?
– I’m not going to speculate on what might happen. We evaluate the matter that was brought before us and go accordingly. I’m not going to guess what would have happened, if something might have happened.
The issue has already been discussed since 2022. Pasi Mustonen has not coached after 2022, and Noora Räty may no longer be seen at events under the Ice Hockey League. How will this decision be received?
– Everyone can read the decision themselves and draw conclusions from it and evaluate the matter as they see fit. I have nothing to say on behalf of anyone.