Jalen Smereck is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Ukrainian Hockey League (UHL) after being the target of a racist gesture during a stoppage in play.

The 24-year-old Detroit native is a defenseman for HC Donbass, based in Druzhkivka, Ukraine. In the second period, he was taunted by Andrey Deniskin of HC Kremenchuk, who mimicked peeling a banana and eating it.

On his IG account, Smereck called for the UHL to remove Deniskin from the league

“Therefore I have been putting a lot of thought into what comes next for me in my career but as of right now I have decided that I will be taking a personal leave of absence from HC Donbass and I will not play another game in the (UHL) until Andrey Deniskin is suspended and removed from the league.”

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Read more about:

Leave a comment

avatar

Article by Alex Sherman

Listen to the uInterview Podcast!
Get the most-revealing celebrity conversations with the uInterview podcast!
Listen now!