Abitibi hockey association cracks down on racist jeers

The minor hockey association in Quebec's Abitibi-Témiscamingue region says it plans to crack down on racist comments about Cree players.

Hockey Abitibi-Témiscamingue has sent out a letter to members condemning racist comments during games.

President Christian Labbé says that white players made unacceptable comments to Cree players during some recent games,

"In 2015, those kind of comments have no place whatsoever," he said.

Labbé says the association does not have the evidence required to discipline the players. Instead, the association sent the letter to remind teams and league officials that racism will not be tolerated.

Charlie Washipadamo is the Cree representative for the league. He says the problem has been an ongoing issue and is something he dealt with when he was a player.

"Hockey Abitibi is doing a good move because I know all the members pretty well at this point and I know they mean well by trying to address this issue before it gets out of hand," he said.

Around 3,600 youths play with Hockey Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Nine of the 18 associations under the league's umbrella are of Cree origin.