According to Urheilu’s expert Topi Nättinen, Tarmo Reunanen’s legal protection was also violated. According to Nättinen, further measures are required from the SM league.
On Saturday, it was reported that Luko’s defender Tarmo Reunanen has been banned for one match for the insult he directed at KalPa in Friday’s match For Juuso Mäenpää.
Ilta-Sanomat reports The words Reunanen used were a “fucking hint”, but the SM league and Lukko did not reveal the wording in their press releases. The referees kicked Reunanen out of the match due to the insult.
In the hall, it was first erroneously announced that the reason for Reunanen’s expulsion was “racist behavior”. The lock presented in its announcement sorry to Reunanen, because the club had mistakenly communicated the reason for the dismissal with the same words.
Sports expert Top Nättinen according to which the judges did the right thing when they intervened in the discriminatory speech. However, a mistake was made in telling Jäähy’s reason.
– In that case, the legal protection of the individual, i.e. Tarmo Reunanen, was not realized. You have to take responsibility for that. Apparently, the apology from the judges has been forwarded to Tarmo, Nättinen, who opened the matter on Puhe’s Ice Hockey Tour, stated.
According to Nättinen, Reunanen’s insult should still not be accepted under any circumstances. According to him, the entire hockey community should look in the mirror.
– Tarmo Reunanen is not a bad person. This is not solely his fault. This is the fault of hockey and structures because speech is still a part of hockey booths. Now it just spilled out of one player’s mouth onto the field, Nättinen emphasizes.
The ban didn’t send the right message
In Nättinen’s opinion, the ban imposed by the SM league does not send the right message. This happened despite the fact that the SM league emphasized in its press release that the punishment reflects the league’s zero tolerance towards discriminatory speech.
– This is a message that doesn’t quite draw the line. You can use really discriminatory language and still only lose one match, Nättinen points out.
– It’s good that a penalty was given, but the signal is lacking. Whatever the punishment, the players must be clear about where the boundaries are, he continues.
In Nättinen’s opinion, the SM league cannot think that the matter is now over.
– If a longer ban had been given for this, it would have forced us to talk about it. Now it may be that next week the matter will be forgotten when there is a tackle aimed at the head, Nättinen reflects.
– Now the symptom was treated, the disease must be treated next. Now it is up to the teams and the people working there to figure out how to talk and act in the future, the expert emphasizes.
Insulting the opponent does not win games
According to Nättinen, Reunanen’s case gives the SM league an opportunity to change the internal culture of the sport, but the change requires concrete measures. Everyone is responsible for this, including the players.
– Playing ice hockey as a profession is really privileged. If you think that hurting someone else helps you win the game, you have misunderstood the sport, Nättinen says.
According to Nättinen, who played nearly 300 matches in his own SM league career, yelling and provocation belong in the rink. According to Nättinen, the discussion cannot get stuck in arguing about what can or cannot be said.
According to Nättinen, the players do know what words can and cannot be used.
– If a list of a hundred words were put in front of us and 20 of them were wrong, each of us could circle the wrong ones. Ice hockey must not be the stuffy environment where they are challenged, Nättinen emphasizes.