Russia's premier hockey league, the KHL, is looking into a reported incident in which a Spartak Moscow fan threw bananas at a black player, Edwin Hedberg, Wednesday. Hedberg plays for Medvescak Zagreb, the Croatian team which won 4-1 against Spartak that night. After the match, two bananas were thrown onto the ice. Yesterday, it was reported that Spartak has identified and banned the fan from attending KHL matches, according to LNR Media.
The KHL made the decision to fine Spartak Moscow for the incident, reported LNR. The league is "looking into the matters of the racist incident during the Spartak-Medvescak match," according to the Toronto Sun. "The league considers any actions of this kind inadmissible. Upon clarifying all of this incident's details, KHL will take respective decisions in accordance with the league's regulations," said the league.
The KHL slaps Spartak with a 700,000-ruble ($9,200) fine for last night's racist incident.
— Gabrielle T-F (@gabrielletf) January 14, 2016
"I don't know what to say. Things like this shouldn't happen but unfortunately they do," said a surprised Hedberg, according to the Sun. "It's my second KHL season, but I've encountered this for the first time."
"Incidents like this aren't usual in hockey, so they need to be stopped immediately and in a serious way. We need to find out who did it and ban him from coming to hockey games," stated Spartak Vice President Valery Kamensky, who previously won the Stanley Cup with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche.
While this sort of racism is not common at Russian hockey matches due to a lack of diverse races, the same cannot be said about Russian soccer matches. The country is trying to crack down on this problem before the 2018 World Cup, which takes place in Russia.
