The ice hockey association’s disciplinary committee also decided to issue Pori Narukerä’s Joona Rajala a warning for unsportsmanlike behavior.
13:04•Updated 13:06
The disciplinary board of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association has rejected Porvoo’s Achilles’ demand to overturn the final result of the semi-final match played last weekend and to restart the match.
According to Achilles, a referee’s error occurred during the overtime of the match played against Narukerä of Pori, which significantly affected the outcome of the match. The Porvoo club made a video inspection request to the disciplinary committee of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.
According to the disciplinary board, Achilles’ demands will be rejected because the club has not made a protest request but a video investigation request.
The Disciplinary Board can order the match to be played again with an objection resolution. The request to invalidate the result of the match and restart the match must be made in accordance with the objection procedure according to the competition rules and not with a video investigation request. Since Akilles has not followed the objection procedure in accordance with the competition rules, its claim to annul the match result and restart the match is rejected.
A warning to the Pori player
The ice hockey association’s disciplinary board also decided to give Pori Narukerä To Joona Rajala warning.
According to the board’s statement, Rajala’s behavior in the final moments of the match was unsportsmanlike. In its decision, the board states that Rajala gets hit in the face by a bat during the match. Rajala emphasizes the seemingly mild hit in a remarkably dramatic way by falling to the ground, holding his face and throwing his own bat in the air. Emphasizing a hit in a spectacular way in the decisive moments of an important match in a tied situation is unsportsmanlike behavior and thus against the rules of hockey.
The next semifinal match will be played in Pori on Wednesday. Narukerä leads the match series with 2–0 wins, and with a win the club advances to the final.