The sports legal protection board relaxed but did not revoke Juha Soka’s ban, which was a big disappointment for the coach.
The sports legal protection board has given its decision on the events of the ice hockey match between Pelicans and Leki U13 juniors played in November.
The chain of events started when a Pelicans player got iced for rushing. After the tackle, a Leki player called a Pelicans player a racist term. The Pelicans player who was yelled at immediately told the referee who took him to the ice court about what happened.
After the ice, the player told the coach of the Pelicans junior team about it For Juha Soka. Sokka ordered his team to the dressing room and demanded the referees of the match to clarify the situation. The referee who escorted the player to the ice shelf had heard the scream and later confirmed it to Soka in the locker room.
The match was interrupted in a mixed atmosphere, and it was not played to the end. In December, the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation’s disciplinary committee fined the Junior-Pelicans ry a thousand euros and banned Soka for three matches. Sokka appealed the decision to the Sports Legal Protection Board.
The judicial protection board decided that the fine of one thousand euros received by the Pelicans junior team will be removed, because according to the board, it was unreasonable. The three-match ban imposed on Soka will be changed to one match.
The ban was not completely overturned because Soka is considered to have acted improperly when he marched the team off the ice. According to the competition or game rules, the teams do not have the right to interrupt the match.
Sokka is not happy with the decision.
– The decision left a bad taste in my mouth. I was afraid that it would happen like this because the decision took so long, Sokka told Sporten.
According to the Legal Protection Board, it is not clear that the ban is in conflict with the Equality Act. Sokka finds the statement strange. According to him, both the legal protection board and the Ice Hockey Federation resort to sanctions when the coach tries to protect the child from discrimination.
Sokka plans to speak with a lawyer to decide whether to take the case to court.
The Judicial Protection Board ordered the Jääkieksliitto to compensate the joint board expenses of Junior-Pelicans ry and Juha Soka with 2,000 euros.
The Commissioner for Equality has asked the Ice Hockey Association to clarify whether the handling of the case has violated the Equality Act and whether it is indirect discrimination.
Sporten reached out to the Jääkieksliiotto, which did not comment on the matter.