It was announced that Latvian Football Federation disqualified a footballer earlier in 2024 for an ethical misconduct.
Apparently, the player had submitted an appeal (or a simple request?) against the 3-month ban, which was satisfied, to reduce the forced idle time to 2 months.
The news were reported by LFF, with a significant note in the final paragraph…
“Vienlaikus Ētikas komiteja atgādina, ka atkārtotu rasistisku izpausmju gadījumos draud bargākas sankcijas, ieskaitot arī mūža diskvalifikāciju.”
Translation: At the same time, the Ethics Committee reminds that in cases of repeated racist expressions, there is a threat of harsher sanctions, including lifetime disqualification.
The initial link to the LFF’s press release was posted to Twitter / X on 2 May 2024.
The direct link to the release: https://lff.lv/zinas/17533/etikas-komiteja-samazina-e-tidenbergam-pieskirto-diskvalifikaciju
The reduced ban also caught some attention by sports news media in Latvia, specifically noting that the ex-captain of the team is expected to return in game-action ASAP:
The initial story by us was reported as in this post: https://legalsport.eu/first-racism-related-disqualification-in-2024-in-latvian-football/
As it can be seen, the essence most likely turns around the word “slave”. As well, usage of “donut country” might be classified as racially oriented language. The player likely has admitted that this was the case, claimed to have been regretted it.
The reasoning as to how wide any usage of words can be considered as racial, remains unclear, therefore it is strongly recommended to footballers not to use any derogatory words that might be perceived as racial.
It is important not only what an ethical commission considers is racial and constitutes a case of racism, but also how the addressee of the statements perceives the received messages. I.e., the offended basketball player had all the rights to feel that the personal attack was very much driven due to the racial prejudices by the FK Liepāja’s footballer.
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