The disciplinary sanction imposed on former rhythmic gymnastics national team coach Laura Ahonen remained in effect.
The Sports Legal Protection Board has decided to reject the former national team coach of rhythmic competitive gymnastics Laura Ahonen complaint. Thus, the decision of the Finnish Gymnastics Federation’s disciplinary committee on disciplinary sanctions in January remains in effect.
Ahonen and another coach of the national team have been suspected of acting improperly towards young, even underage, national team gymnasts for years. Urheilu reported about it in November.
The disciplinary committee of the gymnastics association imposed a disciplinary sanction on Ahonen. In its decision, it considered that the coach was guilty of violating the disciplinary rules binding on him in certain actions and cases. In particular, the inappropriate behavior was related to weight management coaching and the coach’s inappropriate speech and behavior. The committee did not announce the exact penalty. According to the association’s rules, notices or warnings about sanctions are not public.
In her complaint, Laura Ahonen had demanded that the disciplinary committee’s decision be overturned and the disciplinary sanction removed. In addition, he had demanded that the Gymnastics Federation be obliged to reimburse his board expenses. As the basis for his demand, Ahonen had relied on the fact that the reasons for the disciplinary decision were incomplete and that the decision violated the principle of legality of discipline. In his view, Ahonen had also not acted in violation of any disciplinary rule or code of conduct in force at the time of the crime.
In its decision, the Judicial Security Board considered that the disciplinary decision reflected the acts for which disciplinary sanctions had been demanded of the coach. The disciplinary decision also revealed the rules that had allegedly been violated and based on which the coach’s alleged inappropriate conduct, which was against the ethical rules of sports, had been assessed.
The matter had been examined in the disciplinary decision from the point of view of whether the coach had violated the core area of unsportsmanlike and inappropriate behavior and the ethical principles of sport. In its decision, the Judicial Security Board considered that there was no reason to change the decision of the Gymnastics Association’s disciplinary committee.