Rule 11.4 – Discrimination

Rule 11.4 – Discrimination

Any player or team official who engages in taunts, insults, or intimidation based on discriminatory grounds will be assessed a Gross Misconduct penalty. Discriminatory grounds include the following, without limitation:

  • Race, national or ethnic origin, skin colour, or language spoken;

  • Religion, faith or beliefs;

  • Age

  • Sex, sexual orientation or gender identity / expression;

  • Marital or familial status;

  • Genetic characteristics;

  • Disability.

The Referee will report the individual(s) by completing a Game Incident Report including full details and submitting the Report to the appropriate Member or League delegate.

Note 1: If an incident occurs that was not witnessed by the Officials and is reported to the Referee, the Referee will report the individual(s) to an appropriate member of each team’s bench staff and will complete a Game Incident Report including full details and will submit the Report to the appropriate Member or League delegate.

Note 2: If any behaviour described in Rule 11.1, 11.2 or 11.3 includes behaviour described in Rule 11.4, the player, goaltender or team official must be penalized under Rule 11.4, in addition to any other penalties that individual might receive.

INTERPRETATIONS 

Interpretation 1

Rule 11.4

Hockey Canada recognizes that it is necessary to provide further guidance to all participants to ensure consistent application of this rule. The objective is to have uniform application of this rule, avoiding the use of personal preferences or sensibilities. To assist in determining whether conduct is discriminatory (Rule 11.4), abusive (Rule 11.2), or unsportsmanlike (Rule 11.1), officials should apply the following test:

Question 1: Was the comment made in a negative context, with the intent to taunt, insult, or intimidate another person?

Question 2: Was the nature of the insult based on “discriminatory grounds”, as defined by Rule 11.4?

If the answers to BOTH questions are “yes”, then a Gross Misconduct penalty under Rule 11.4 must be assessed to the offending player.

If there is any doubt regarding the nature of a comment, officials should strictly apply this test to ensure that the game of hockey is free from maltreatment.