IIHF suspends Andri Denyskin 1 year for racist gesture toward Black player

The IIHF announced on Tuesday that it has handed Ukraine men’s national team player Andri Denyskin a one-year suspension, five months after he directed a racist gesture at Jalen Smereck in a Ukrainian Hockey League game last September.

The now-infamous incident saw Denyskin get ejected from a game after taunting Smereck — a Black opponent playing for HC Donbass at the time — by pretending to peel a banana and eat it. The upsetting viral video made its rounds through the hockey community almost immediately, with many describing it as an unforgivable act.

Days later, the UHL shocked and angered the hockey world when it announced Denyskin would only be suspended for 13 games for the disgusting act. This sparked plenty of public outrage, and resulted in Smereck leaving the league entirely and choosing to continue his career in Germany.

While some may feel the one-year ruling is still not enough, it's a much more fitting punishment than what he was given by the UHL. It should be noted that the suspension will include any and all international competition. IIHF President Luc Tardif explained the decision that led to the lengthy ban.

"During a hearing with the Deciding Panel, Denyskin immediately acknowledged that his actions were wrong and stated that he apologized personally to Smereck and repeatedly throughout the disciplinary processes," the IIHF wrote in a release Monday.

"There is no question in this case that the gesture in question was racist, and Denyskin has admitted that throughout all of the proceedings. Denyskin indicated that as soon as the game was over, he had gone to the dressing room of HC Donbass and apologized to Jalen Smereck, and they shook hands."

As it turns out, the suspension the UHL gave out was the longest allowable due to league rules. At the time it was announced, Maxym Urda, the Referee-in-Chief for the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine, admitted that the league's rules needed to be changed moving forward so incidents like this could receive more severe punishments. As a result, the IIHF will now work hand in hand with the Ukraine Federation to give out more appropriate suspension lengths if needed in the future.

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