Police warn of far-right links in Tappara fan group

Far-right supporters are members of Tre Youth 25, a fan group for ice hockey team Tappara, according to police, Yle reports. The group consists mainly of underage boys, with its youngest members aged 12.

Police say individual members are trying to bring far-right ideology into the group’s activities, although the group as a whole is not considered far-right.

Senior constable Juhani Kraneis, who monitors spectator safety at sporting events in the Pirkanmaa and Central Finland regions, said the police assessment is based on their own observations. He acts as a liaison between supporters, clubs and police.

Kraneis said the group is a particular concern because of the young age of its members. Far-right views may not necessarily be visible at matches, he said.

Far-right activity was visible in Tampere on May Day, when the Sinimusta liike party held a gathering and march in the city centre. Several suspected assaults took place during the march. Police currently have no information about a firm connection between the party and Tre Youth 25, Kraneis said.

The group’s counterpart among supporters of Tappara’s local rival Ilves is Vestito di Nero. Police said they had not observed similar far-right ideology in Vestito or other Ilves supporter groups.

The groups actively challenge each other online and at matches. They have also organised so-called forest fights, which Yle reported on in April.

“The main supporter groups of both clubs certainly want to distance themselves from these subgroups. The real relationship between the youth groups and the main supporter groups remains a question mark,” Kraneis said.

Tre Youth 25 is not part of Tappara Fan Club, the club’s official supporter community. The Sinioranssit group is a branch of Tappara Fan Club, but its connection to Tre Youth is unclear. Yle was unable to reach a Sinioranssit representative for comment.

Ari Penttilä, chief executive of Tappara’s parent company Tamhockey, said the club did not know the political views of individual supporters and could not control them.

“There is no place in our community for racism, discrimination, violence or the activities of any extremist movement,” Penttilä said in an email to Yle.

He said Tappara’s security organisation continuously monitors safety at matches together with the authorities and Tampere Arena. Any activity that endangers safety would be addressed immediately, regardless of who was involved, he said.

Finland’s ice hockey Liiga was not aware of Tre Youth’s far-right connections. The league said it has no direct contact with clubs’ activities or supporter groups.

Kraneis said links between supporter groups and Finland’s far right had previously been reported in football and had now spread to ice hockey. He said young people connected to the far right often had difficult backgrounds, and that some had extensive criminal records.

“They are young people who are on the margins of society,” Kraneis said.

Kraneis stressed that most members of supporter groups behave well, but said the groups themselves must take strong action to eliminate harmful phenomena.