By Frank Pingue

(Reuters). Several calls for a more severe punishment of the player that made a racist gesture towards a Black UHL defenseman have reverberated throughout the sport. Some call the sanctions an embarrassment.

Andriy Deriskin, forward of HC Kremenchuk was expelled by UHL for 13 games following a teasing incident with Jalen Semereck, the American defenseman in the eight-team league. He mocked Jalen, who is the only American player, and he also mimed eating a banana.

Hockey Diversity Alliance was formed by 9 former National Hockey League (NHL), players. Its mission is to eliminate racism and intolerance from hockey. They have been in contact with Smereck.

The hockey community rallies behind him, and this is yet another illustration of why hockey isn’t for everyone. The organisation posted the following tweet (NYSE:). The organisation wrote on Twitter (NYSE:). They are an example to everyone.”

Smereck didn’t immediately respond to Reuters’ request for interviews, but he stated on Instagram that if Deniskin is not removed from the UHL league which is dominated by Russian and Ukrainian players, he won’t play in another UHL game.

Deniskin apologized on Instagram for his actions and said that he was acting in the heat of the moment. He also stated that he values all races and nationalities. Deniskin later deleted the post, after being criticised for not being sincere.

Akim Aliu of Nigerian and Ukrainian heritage is the Hockey Diversity Alliance Chair. He said that Deniskin received a far too weak punishment.

This is an embarrassment. POC (peoples of color) are supposed to be able to trust this system, even though it is failing to protect them at all times. Aliu tweeted, “On and OFF of the ice.”

According to the UHL, Deniskin can only serve three games from the 13-game ban. The club may also fine Deniskin 50,000 hryvnia ($1,900), or pay 5,000 hryvnia for each of the games.

FIRST INCIDENT

UHL spokesperson said that the penalty was in line with league regulations.

“For each violation, there’s a different price,” she stated. “We don’t have a single case of racism that we can punish. It is not the first of these incidents.”

Eugene Kolychev claimed that he was fired by the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine as the general manager of UHL because he spoke out against racism. Kolychev’s firing was confirmed by the league, but they declined to comment further.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), and NHL Players Association (NHLPA were also among the organizations to voice their concern about the incident.

Deniskin’s acts were called “deplorable”, while the NHLPA and IIHF president Luc Tardif held that “such a blatantly racial” gesture was not appropriate in sports or society.

Tardif said that the behavior was a direct threat to our ideals and game values. He added that additional ethics investigations will be conducted in order to sanction such conduct appropriately.

Many NHL players who were preparing to play in the 2021-22 season criticized Deniskin’s behavior.

Wayne Simmonds (Toronto Maple Leafs forward) said Deniskin is not worthy of his punishment.

Simmonds said that it had reached a point where the situation was so bad, “he added. I was sickened by the way this guy performed his task without hesitation.

“To be able to say that I was able to play hockey, and possibly have my kids play hockey in these kinds of situations I see how people don’t want hockey.”

($1 = 26.5741 hryvnias)