Finland Times

 

Pentti Sainio's book at a news conference in Helsinki on Thursday. Photo – Lehtikuva.

The Helsinki District Court on Thursday rejected an appeal of Kalervo Kummola, vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, and the Ice Hockey Association seeking ban on the publication of Kummolan kääntöpiiri.

 

In addition, the court ordered Kummola and the association to pay compensation of €2,500 to Into Kustannus and Pentti Sainio as legal costs.

 

Publishing house Into Kustannus announced on its website that the court had rejected the attempt to secure temporary ban on publishing, selling and distributing Kummolan kääntöpiiri.

 

The house stated that freedom of expression had won and that the book was now expected to be published this spring.

 

Kummola and the association argued that the book had already met all the hallmarks of defamation based on the description given by its publisher.

 

According to the publisher, the book revealed behind the scenes in the game and how cash flew. 

 

“Behind the scenes in sports entertainment is a small circle of gambling in which money flows and is usually desired to be concealed from the wider public through a number of different communities and networks that are built to obscure the beneficiaries of the cash flows,” a statement read.