During his long career, Pekka Virta has seen a big change in the rude feedback athletes receive.
The SM league club Ilves said over the weekend that they filed a criminal complaint about a death threat received by their player on social media, in which even his family and children were threatened.
Unfortunately, the case is only the tip of the iceberg. Inappropriate social media behavior is a disgusting and ever-growing phenomenon – also in the world of sports.
At the end of November, TPS star Markus Nurmi shared pictures of the rude messages he received in the stories section of Instagram.
– Die away! You will be beaten to shit!
That’s a small part of the slag dose the player gets.
In the most recent case, the sports director of HJK Vesa Mäki tells about the hate and threatening mail he received, which has also disrupted his family’s life. Mäki is considering filing a criminal complaint.
Hurske and Murto
TPS and Ilves have been at the center of the social media frenzy experienced by the players. The players in the picture are not related to the cases. Jaakko Stenroos / AOP
Last week the hurdler Reetta Hurske asked the Finnish Center for Sports Ethics In his blog post published on Suek’s website inappropriate feedback received by athletes.
Hurske said that he himself has not experienced harassment. However, the comments have not always remained at a stylish level, but have referred to how good or sexy one looks externally. For example, competition outfits are criticized from that point of view, even though commentary focusing on appearance is not related to the main thing itself, i.e. sports.
– Does it really have to be endured and, more importantly, do we want to participate in this kind of culture with silent acceptance? The SE woman asked.
Pole vault star Wilma Murto commented on the rude feedback received by the athletes to Iltalehti.
– I wonder if there is a modern athlete who has no experience with it. Yes, it is an unfortunately common phenomenon, confirms Murto.
He says that he has learned to weed out and block senders of inappropriate messages.
– If such messages appear on Facebook, for example, that message is quickly deleted and you don’t think about it any more.
Backlash
According to Wilma Murro, it’s not worth commenting on inappropriateness: “It doesn’t necessarily lead to terribly fruitful discussions.” PASI LEISMA
Iltalehti’s ice hockey expert Pekka Virta has seen a big change in the matter during his long career.
Virta played six league seasons in the 1990s and has since been the head coach in the SM league for 17 seasons.
– Before, if there was an anonymous phone number, you didn’t even bother to answer it. There was also a barrier, so messages couldn’t get through, Virta says.
– If someone in a fit of rage wanted to get their message through, it took a little work to do so.
Virta considers the latest cases it has become aware of through the public to be alarming.
– All the time it gets crazier – or more open. You have always heard those shouts, but nowadays there are also channels for them, he refers to social media, among other things.
– In addition to visibility, it has also brought another side to it. Clubs use it a lot in sales and marketing, and individual players use it to promote their careers. At the same time, it has become such a mild phenomenon.
– However, the solution cannot be for clubs or players to leave social media, because it is important to them. Society and the hockey system must be able to counter-react to the phenomenon, Virta emphasizes.
“Chains of Vomiting”
Pekka Virta considers it important that the team can openly discuss all issues even without the presence of the coaches. Roni Lehti
Virta notes, for example, that the comment fields of updates made by clubs have become a “place to vent bad feelings” for some.
– Private messages can also be sent in such a state that it does not require much consideration. Everyone understands what it means if it comes after the game in the middle of the night.
Virta says that she hasn’t been the target of rude messages herself – or at least she has spared herself from them.
– You shouldn’t read those vomit threads or any discussion forums after a loss.
– Not much has gotten through to me. There have been a few comments if, for example, I have posted something on Facebook. Then I just stated that I don’t share it in general but only to my friends.
It’s worth telling
Virta considers Ilves’ strict reaction to the death threat to be completely correct. He believes that the clubs have started to discourage their players in the matter anyway.
– We’ve probably started discussing that if things get difficult, get in touch.
– First you can tell the director of sports. That way, if the matter is serious, the coach will also be informed about it. It is also good to know about the training if there is something like that, that the other person is afraid to go on the ice or something similar.
Players’ agents are also helpful.
– Until the appointed time, the players also take care of these things by themselves or among themselves, Virta knows.
– I also had a team meeting every morning. Caregivers, massage therapists and the team leader were also involved in those coffee moments, but the coaching only came in when the training started.
– The purpose was precisely that all issues that are not brought up in the meetings where the coaching talks about hockey are discussed as openly as possible.