The Martial Arts Disciplinary Committee has made a decision about the harassment experienced by boxer Jonna Hakkarainen. The decision may be appealed to the Sports Legal Protection Board.
Helsingin Sanomat said (you will switch to another service)just over a week ago a boxer Jonna Hakkarainen harassment, mental violence, manipulation, control, intimidation and harassment. Hakkarainen filed a disciplinary report against the former coach, who according to Hakkarainen has committed the above-mentioned activities.
The Martial Arts Disciplinary Committee made a decision on the matter last Monday, but the decision only became public now. The decision was negative for Hakkarainen.
“The Disciplinary Committee shall reject the disciplinary claim in so far as it concerns the events of the boxing competitions on 20-23 January 2022. The Disciplinary Committee shall dismiss the disciplinary claim in so far as it relates to the events before the boxing competitions held on 20-23 January 2022. The decision was unanimous.”
The Disciplinary Committee only investigated the events that took place in the boxing competition from 20 to 23 January 2022, as they had been reported within a week.
According to the Disciplinary Committee, the coach did not commit any unscrupulous conduct in accordance with the disciplinary regulations that weekend.
According to the rules, disciplinary claims will not be investigated if they have occurred more than a week after the report. Therefore, events prior to January 20-23, 2022 were not investigated.
The decision may be appealed to the Sports Legal Protection Board.
The decision took almost half a year
Hakkarainen is in an awkward situation, as according to the HS case, his former coach holds leadership positions in boxing and has an influence on, for example, national team selection. In the HS case, Hakkarainen wondered that the Boxing Association had not reacted to the incident and that the incident had been dismissed.
The Boxing Association reacted to the HS story with a press release.
– On the question of whether the Union can act in unfinished cases to protect those involved, we definitely have room for improvement. We have only been able to create guidelines for handling cases. Each case is unique, so it has not been possible to build a completely unified operating model, the Boxing Association reported.
– In the event of a serious criminal offense, it would be possible to consider interim solutions, such as suspension pending the investigation of the case. However, it has been agreed with the party that this will avoid contact with the notifier during the processing
Reports of harassment in martial arts discipline not examined
The Disciplinary Committee operates in accordance with the rules laid down by the sports federations. They state that a report made by an individual must be submitted within one week of the violation or when it becomes apparent.
The Joint Martial Arts Disciplinary Committee was established in 2017. The disciplinary rules have since been updated several times, most recently in January this year.
The current disciplinary rules already contain a section stating that:
“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.”
– It does not take into account at all the ethical violations that have now become new within a few years. That is why new common ethical rules for sport have been developed, Lindblom said.
However, Lindblom points out that there is a provision in the rules governing disciplinary action in martial arts that may be considered for serious reasons, even if it has not been notified. The time limit of one week is therefore no justification in these cases.