In this file photo, Team Canada gold medal winning junior hockey player Wayne Simmonds, of Pickering, Ont., (right) signs autographs as he arrives home at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Sunday, January 6, 2008. The Philadelphia Flyers, right-winger was the target of racial abuse during a Czech League game on Sunday.J.P. Moczulski/The Canadian Press
The Czech Ice Hockey Association said Tuesday it had fined top-flight Pirati Chomutov after its fans showered racist insults on black NHL player Wayne Simmonds during a game.
Canada's Simmonds, the Philadelphia Flyers' right wing, joined another Czech top-flight side Bili Tygri Liberec amid the NHL lock-out sparked by failed talks with the players' unions.
Chomutov were hit with a penalty of $1,555 for chants heard during their clash with Liberec in the top league on Sunday.
"We are disgusted by the behaviour of a group of fans who harmed the reputation of the club," Pirati marketing director David Dinda said after the game.
Chomutov also apologized to Simmonds in a letter immediately after the incident.