On Saturday the Veikkausliiga match between AC Oulu and FC Inter Turku was suspended after referee Mohammad Al-Emara heard racist abuse from the crowd.
Pekka Soini, the Football Association's head of competitions, told Yle that the incident is currently subject to disciplinary proceedings in which all sides will be heard before a punishment is announced.
"Typically the consequences in these kinds of situations are fines for the club," said Soini. "Punishments for the individual are the club's responsibility."
Racist banned?
The individual responsible for Saturday's racist abuse has now been identified and will not be welcome at future AC Oulu home games.
The club can only ban him on a game by game basis, as Finnish law doesn't allow for permanent bans for individuals.
Al-Emara says that bans are the right way to respond to incidents like this in future.
"This is the first time that I've heard that a spectator has been banned after a racist incident," said Al-Emara. "It's a move in the right direction, in my opinion."
"These kinds of incidents should not be swept under the carpet. We can say whatever we like, but our actions should match up with our words. At the moment words aren't backed up by actions."
Al-Emara first started refereeing in 2012, and within six years he was taking charge of Veikkausliiga matches.
"If the event organiser can't deal with those who shout these things, then we could try playing matches without spectators," suggested Al-Emara. "At least then we wouldn't have to worry about these shouts. Maybe clubs would learn to prevent these shouts better, if games could be played behind closed doors."
AC Oulu have since announced that they will bring in an online form to anonymously report inappropriate behaviour at games.
Widespread problem
Soini says the FA has a zero tolerance approach to racist incidents, and that broader education outside football is needed to stamp them out.
The FA does include training on the matter in its referee education, and registers all racist incidents, but it does not keep statistics on the number of games suspended because of racism.
Al-Emara has himself suspended numerous Veikkausliiga games after racist abuse from the stands. He says the governing body should keep statistics on such incidents.
"They should absolutely keep a record," said Al-Emara. "Myself I have suspended 6-7 games since 2018 because of racist abuse. That says quite a lot about how widespread the problem is."
Al-Emara, who has been voted the best referee in the league five times, says that the majority of racist incidents do not come to light because referees cannot hear everything that happens in grounds.
"That is why I have asked for responsibility to be shared more widely, it cannot just be the referees' problem," said Al-Emara. "The FA and the clubs should wake up to this and find ways to deal with this problem. They can't just pass it on to the referees to deal with."
"We have noticed that the way in which racism incidents have been dealt with has not been effective. These cases happen continually, season after season. Now we should make use of harsher measures."
AC Oulu have not been in touch with Al-Emara after Saturday's incident.
"Apart from a few AC Oulu players, nobody from the club has apologised for what happened," said the referee.
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