Racism in Finnish football has come under the spotlight in recent weeks, after referee Mohammad Al-Emara stopped a Veikkausliiga game when he heard racist abuse directed at him from the stands.
The incident was a startling challenge to Al-Emara, who moved to Finland as a child.
"Of course I have been facing this kind of thing hundreds of times," said Al-Emara. "I have been living here for like 30 years. But still every time it's a shock, it's like, OK, and here we go again."
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He invoked a Uefa protocol established to help deal with racist incidents, and interrupted the game for the announcer to request the crowd desist from racist behaviour. He has halted matches several times before, but on those previous occasions the abuse had been aimed at players, not the referee himself.
Although Al-Emara is the highest-profile referee in Finland, officiating at international games and commanding the respect of players and authorities alike, there is a large cohort of referees from diverse backgrounds now managing games in Finland.
An FA official told APN that some 40 percent of referees in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa are now from a migrant background. Dealing with any racist incidents is therefore a priority, but Finnish crowds can be quiet — and according to ilta-Sanomat sport reporter Janne Oivio, that's both a blessing and a curse.
A role for everyone
"I don't think that we see that where you'd have entire fan sections, for example, conducting themselves in that kind of way," said Oivio, citing racist incidents at football games in other countries.
"But the larger issue is that people don't really have the tools to do anything about it. You know Finnish people, we're very non confrontational. So I think most people when they hear something like that they sort of just hope that everything goes away very quickly. So you're not really doing anything about it."
We also asked what can be done once culprits are identified, and found that Finnish law does not currently allow for offenders to be banned from future games. That could change as the current government is looking to bring in legislation on the issue, but in the meantime, Al-Emara says that everyone has a role to play.
"The most important thing is that we tackle this problem together," said the referee. "It's not like referees alone, and the teams alone, and the FA alone. We have to face this problem together."
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