The one-week time limit used in the Martial Arts Disciplinary Committee for disciplinary notices is not well suited to harassment cases.
The Martial Arts Disciplinary Committee dismissed the boxer Jonna Hakkarainen disciplinary action.
Helsingin Sanomat said (you will switch to another service) just over a week ago about harassment, mental violence, manipulation, control, intimidation and harassment experienced by Hakkarainen. Hakkarainen filed a disciplinary complaint against his former coach, who according to Hakkarainen has committed the above-mentioned activities. Today, he holds senior positions in boxing.
The Disciplinary Committee rejected the disciplinary claim for the January Tammer tournament and did not investigate previous events. The decision was unanimous.
According to the rules of the Disciplinary Committee, disciplinary claims will not be investigated if they have occurred more than a week before the announcement. In the Tammer tournament on the 20th and 23rd. January, the coach did not commit any unsportsmanlike conduct, according to the Disciplinary Committee.
However, there is also a section in the disciplinary rules stating:
“For serious reasons, violations brought to the attention of the Martial Arts Association may be dealt with, even if they have not been reported or reported.”
Hakkarainen talks about serious things. Aren’t they good reasons?
– No compelling reasons have been identified anywhere. The Disciplinary Committee has interpreted that there were no such reasons, Executive Director of the Boxing Association Marko Laine stated to Sport.
In the bigger picture, the problem is that when defining the time limit for a week, things that are mainly related to competitions have been considered. For ethical violations, such as harassment, the week limit is not very suitable. This was stated, among other things, by the General Counsel of the Finnish Sports Ethics Center (Suek) Petteri Lindblom.
– I understand that Lindblom interprets it quite correctly. The common disciplinary rules for martial arts originally came into force in 2017. Harassment cases have been added to the disciplinary rules and there has been no understanding that they can rarely show that they occurred on a particular day or time. They are often long-lasting, and it is often obscure when they begin, Laine described.
Expert in sports law, professor of law Antti Aine The universities of Turku and Helsinki are on the same lines as Lindblom.
– I do not know the details of the case, but I can say from the system that the regulations are quite strict in terms of time, especially in cases of harassment. One may, of course, ask whether the acquis should be developed in such a way as to avoid such problems and to take account of the specific features of each case.
According to Laine, the process of changing the common disciplinary rules is underway.
The Joint Disciplinary Committee for Ethical Violations in Sport started at the beginning of the year
What message does the decision in the Hakkarainen case send to others who may be considering making a report?
– I would like it to send a message that it is important to highlight cases of harassment. The Boxing Federation and the sports community do not accept harassment. When this is made visible, it will enable us to change the situation. Unfortunately, the rules change too late for this case, but it will certainly lead to a better and safer direction, Laine said.
At the beginning of the year, the Joint Disciplinary Committee for Ethical Violations in Sport began its work. The Olympic Committee’s fully independent disciplinary board will impose sanctions for serious ethical violations following Suek’s investigation.
The rules came into force on 1 January 2022. All violations that have occurred during the new rules will be dealt with in accordance with these rules.
Hakkarainen has stated that he fears that the case presented to the public may complicate his position, for example, when selecting race teams.
– Decisions on team selections will certainly go through more than one pair of eyes, so that there are the right and valid criteria for the selections, Laine assured.
Hakkarainen has the opportunity to appeal the decision to the Sports Judicial Security Committee.
– The Legal Security Committee has traditionally been able to deal with cases initiated fairly quickly, especially when it comes to the implementation of legal protection for athletes, Professor Aine stated.