Indigenous player leaves Quebec-league game after suffering racist taunts

In case you missed it this past weekend, an ugly scenario played itself out in Quebec’s LNAH during a game the Sorel-Tracy Sparrowhawks and the Jonquiere Marquis. Forward Francis Verreault-Paul reportedly received racial taunts from the opposition and ultimately left the game in order to de-escalate the situation. The indigenous Verreault-Paul shared his story with CBC shortly after.

Read below for the English translations of CBC’s report:

Two players from the Sorel-Tracy Sparrowhawks are said to have insulted the native player of the Marquess of Jonquière, Francis Verreault-Paul, during a match on Saturday at the Palais des sports de Jonquière. These words ignited the powder and Francis Verreault-Paul struck a player of the Sparrowhawks.

Francis Verreault-Paul obtained a four-minute punishment for roughness at the start of the third period. Reached on the phone, the Marquis player refused to comment publicly on the incident, but still agreed to give his version of the facts.

According to him, the Sparrowhawks player Marc-André Huot made malicious and insulting remarks by referring to the fact that he is indigenous. He saw this incident as a bullying tactic.

In the second half, another Sparrowhawk player would also have made racist comments.

The insults struck Francis Verreault-Paul to the point that he left the match angry to prevent it from escalating, he said. The player regrets that racist remarks can still be held on the ice. Last February, his teammate Jonathan-Ismaël Diaby and his family were victims of racist comments and gestures

Jonathan-Ismaël Diaby and his family were victims of racist comments and gestures by spectators, which had caused an uproar.

Neither the league nor the team have commented on Verreault-Paul’s allegations. Stay tuned.