MOSCOW (Reuters) - The
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) will assess the need for harsher sanctions in response to a racist incident in Ukraine and plans to pressure leagues around the world to amend their rule books to define sanctions for racist behaviour, the new IIHF president said.
Luc Tardif took over as head of the IIHF one day before the hockey world was rocked by images of Andriy Deniskin, a forward for HC Kremenchuk in the Ukrainian Hockey League (UHL), poking fun at the HC Donbass defender Jalen Smereck, who is black, by pretending to peel and eat a banana.
Smereck, 24, was absent after the incident. HC Donbass announced on Sunday that it had reached a mutual agreement to terminate the American’s contract.
Tardif, who has dual French-Canadian citizenship, ordered the IIHF ethics committee to investigate the incident and assess Deniskin’s 13-game suspension from the Ukrainian Ice Hockey Federation, the maximum that could be imposed under its rules.
“Thirteen games, that’s a third of the season,” Tardif told Reuters in a video conference interview. “That’s still a lot, but we don’t think it’s enough.”
If the ethics committee determines that the sanctions against Deniskin are inappropriate, it may take the case to the IIHF disciplinary board for further action.
Ukrainian hockey officials have come under fire for what many players, including Toronto Maple Leafs forward Wayne Simmonds, one of the most prominent black players in the National Hockey League (NHL), consider too lenient a penalty.