Ice hockey-Player from Ukrainian side Kremenchuk given 13 match ban after racist gesture

[September 29, 2021] KYIV (Reuters) - A player from Ukrainian ice hockey side Kremenchuk has been banned for 13 matches for making a racist gesture in a national championship match this weekend, the country's league said on Wednesday.  

The sanction against striker Andriy Deniskin is the maximum possible and it came into force on Tuesday, said a statement.

The incident took place during Sunday's match against Donbass who said they called on the league's disciplinary committee to impose the "strictest possible punishment" on Deniskin.

"Any discrimination on the grounds of race, nationality, colour, religion or other, including during official ice hockey matches by players, officials of teams is unacceptable," the league said.

Deniskin, who was ejected from the game, later apologised for his actions on Instagram, the Ukrainian Hockey League said in a statement earlier this week.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

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