JOHN ELLIOTT CALLS FOR ACTION
Coors Belfast Giants General Manager, John Elliott, has said he will be making a formal complaint to the Elite League, siting the behaviour of home fans at Sunday’s Coventry Blaze clash and more importantly, the lack of action taken by the Blaze management.
“Blaze players came up to our Coach Ed Courtenay and apologised for the fans’ behaviour. There was also an email letter of apology from a group of Coventry fans on my desk on Monday morning. That’s how disgracefully behaved some of the audience were on Sunday night and how obvious it was to everyone in the arena. Yet Coventry Managing Director Mike Cowley claims he heard nothing. Some of the Coors Giants lost their cool and responded to the taunts but what happens between players on the ice is for the officials to deal with and there are rules governing behaviour. They were penalised as such. My frustration is that Coventry management seem to dismiss the existence of rules which also govern the audience in ice-hockey and ignore that it is their responsibility to enforce them. Ice-hockey is a family sport and a family audience don’t expect to listen to lurid or inappropriate comments made by irresponsible fans. At every game we host in the Odyssey, announcements are made to remind the fans of respect for eachother and young people sitting around them. The Coors Giants Management support the Odyssey security team in ensuring this is adhered to and we have, when necessary ejected fans from the arena after repeated offences. I make no apology for this. It is what I expect from every Elite League management team and it is the reputation of the sport which is at stake, not the pride of individual players. That said, it is a disgrace that ice-hockey stars such as Theo Fleury and Ed Courtenay have to listen to personal, vile ridicule. They have attracted world-wide media coverage to the game in the UK and Ireland. We’d be lucky if any NHL player wanted to play here again.”
“Other sports in the UK have taken action against fans who bring the game into disrepute including the recent banning of a season ticket holder from Llanelli Scarlets after his racist taunting of rugby icon Jonah Lomu. The Chief Executive also wrote to Lomu and apologised. I await the formal apology from Coventry Blaze to Ed and his team. I think some of my follow Elite League managers need to ask themselves on what platform they wish to see ice-hockey portrayed.”
