– The doctor says that I have been very lucky. They feared concussions and fractures, but it is only a small blue road. I can stand that. This is what Sondre Grønli told news on Friday after the 18-year-old was beaten to death by Frisk Asker player Oliver Dame-Malka on Thursday. – There was a tackle and people gathered. I prevented him from entering the cluster. We grab each other and then he asks if we should fight. I say nothing to him during the entire incident. We push and suddenly he drops the glove and starts hitting, Grønli explains, before continuing: – He hits me a few times and I try to hit his arm to limit the damage he can do to me. He gets in a few good hits and then I think I have to get away so he can’t do any more damage. See the situation here: Stjernen – Frisk Asker. Dame-Malka knocks down Sondre Grønli. Here you can see the reason. Now Stjernen will report the incident to the police. – Yes. We will file a complaint, confirms the chairman of Stjernen Hockey, Gisle Edvard Årnes, to news on Friday. – We have only become even clearer that we will report. Our impression has only been strengthened after considering more video material from the incident, says Årnes to NTB. Sports manager at Frisk Aker, Vidar Wold, believes “it is sad that you go to that step”. – Everyone has the right to say what they want. We do not defend such events. It is something we want to remove from hockey, says Wold to news. Shaken ice hockey president – We should not have such incidents at all and we should not accept this. This was way over the line and not worthy of our sport, says ice hockey president Tage Pettersen to news. When the TV images first showed the situation between the two players, it appeared that Grønli had both gloves on, while Dame-Malka had thrown one glove. In the seconds that followed, Grønli received several blows to the face and lost one glove. See the situation here: The TV images later showed that the 18-year-old was beaten to death. According to Wold, Frisk player Malka claims that Grønli put a shoulder in his chest before it escalated. The occasion was a tackle, in which neither Malka nor Grønli were involved. – It is certainly not blind violence, as you can see in the video of what happens before, but that certainly does not justify the action. But they were divided about it, says Wold to news. Ice hockey president Pettersen is clear that such actions should not occur in Norwegian ice hockey. – I think everyone who has seen this incident agrees that we shouldn’t have something like this at our arenas at all, says Pettersen. – How will the union react? – This will be a normal disciplinary matter. We have received criticism because we have tightened up around episodes that we don’t want where quite a few matches are suspended or banned. I am not going to pre-process, but I will assume that this entails a severe punishment from our disciplinary authorities, says Pettersen. HOCKEY PRESIDENT: Tage Pettersen. Photo: Kenneth Myhre / Norwegian Ice Hockey Association – Culture Crash The contract for Dame-Malka expires on Friday. Wold confirms to news that they will not extend the contract with the 33-year-old. – He was told a few days ago that we are not going to extend the contract because we are getting players back from injury and then we will have enough defenders in place during the next week, says Wold. Frisk Asker brought the Canadian last autumn from the Slovak team Banska Bystrica. – There is a bit of a culture crash here. He comes from a tougher league where fighting is more accepted, but in Norwegian ice hockey we of course distance ourselves from that, says Wold to news. He continues: – Dame-Malka comes from North America where the culture is different. But we tell all the players we sign that it is a different culture here and that you will be banned if you throw down the glove. The players will be informed about it. Dame-Malka was banned for three games after punching an opponent in December. IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Olivier Dame-Malka. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB The sports director tells news that he believes both Grønli and Dame-Malka will receive the same punishment for the incident. – Frisk Asker distances himself from fighting in ice hockey. No one encourages it. Sometimes emotions take over, and that was the case for two players this time, says Wold. – If the gloves come off, there will be a ban and I expect that both will be punished by the disciplinary committee.
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