Complaints raised after Canadian hockey fans reportedly shout antisemitic slurs at child players
A minor level ice hockey organisation in Canada is facing complaints after it was reported that some fans who were attending games had targeted young Jewish players with antisemitic slurs.
The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) has reportedly hired a private investigator to deal with three sets of allegations from 31st October 2021, 11th November 2021, and 6th March 2022.
Each incident took place before or during an under-thirteens game between the Avenue Road Ducks and the Don Mills Mustangs, with the slurs apparently being made by parents of the Mustangs’ teenage players.
Vice President of Toronto’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Noah Shack, said: “No one should be subjected to hate when they are going to a rink to play hockey.”
With 2,800 and around 40,000 players, the Greater Toronto Hockey League is the largest youth ice hockey organisation in the world. In March 2022, the League published the findings of an independent committee which stated that racism and discrimination were endemic in the GTHL, though the report said nothing specific about antisemitism.
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