By Frank Pingue
(Reuters) – Calls for a stiffer punishment for the player who directed a racist gesture toward a Black defenseman during a Ukrainian Hockey League (UHL) game have reverberated around the sport, with some calling the sanction an embarrassment.
HC Kremenchuk forward Andriy Deniskin was suspended for 13 games by the UHL after he taunted HC Donbass defenseman Jalen Smereck, who is the only American player in the eight-team league, during a Sunday match when he mimed peeling and eating a banana.
The Hockey Diversity Alliance, formed in 2020 by nine current and former National Hockey League (NHL) players with a mission to eradicate racism and intolerance in hockey, said they have been in touch with Smereck to offer their support.
“The hockey community rallies around him and this is just another example showcasing how hockey is NOT for everyone.” the organisation wrote on Twitter. “The higher-ups must stand up and make the right decision. They set an example for everyone.”
Smereck did not immediately reply to a request from Reuters for an interview but said on Instagram he will not play another game in the UHL unless Deniskin is removed from the league, which is made up mostly of Ukrainian and Russian players.
Deniskin apologised on Instagram, saying he acted in the heat of the moment and that he respects all people regardless of race or nationality, but later deleted the post after coming under fire for being insincere.
Hockey Diversity Alliance Chair Akim Aliu, who is of Nigerian and Ukrainian descent, said the punishment handed down to Deniskin was far too lenient.
“This is a complete embarrassment. How are we as POC (people of colour) ever supposed to trust the system when at every turn it fails to protect us. On and OFF the ice,” Aliu wrote on Twitter.
Under the UHL’s rules, only three games of Deniskin’s 13-game ban are mandatory, and the player can avoid serving the remaining 10 games if the club pays a 50,000 hryvnia ($1,900) fine, or 5,000 hryvnia per game.
A UHL spokeswoman said the punishment corresponded to the league’s regulations: “For every violation there is a different cost,” she said. “We haven’t had a single racism case to punish. This is the first such incident.”
Both the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) were among the other organisations to speak out this week on the incident.
The NHLPA called Deniskin’s actions a “deplorable act” while IIHF President Luc Tardif said there was no place in sport and society for “such a blatantly racist” gesture.
“This a direct assault on the ideals and values of our game, and we will ensure that all necessary ethics violation investigations occur to ensure that this behaviour is sanctioned appropriately,” said Tardif.
Mathieu Joseph, an NHL forward who plays for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, was also among those who condemned Deniskin’s behaviour.
“Shouldn’t be (allowed) or given a chance to play hockey ever again. I am beyond disgusted. Hurts to watch,” Joseph wrote on Twitter.
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly told reporters the incident was yet another example that more work needs to be done when it comes to tackling racism in sport.
“Obviously it was a horrible act. It was disgusting. I mean, there’s no place for that in our sport, but especially just in our society,” Rielly told reporters.
($1 = 26.5741 hryvnias)
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
