KHL in racism probe after banana throwing at Spartak game

MOSCOW (AP) The Kontinental Hockey League has launched a racism investigation after bananas were reportedly thrown at a black player during a game in Moscow.

Russian media said that Spartak Moscow fans threw two bananas onto the ice at Swedish wing Edwin Hedberg, who plays for Medvescak Zagreb, after the Croatian team won 4-1 on Wednesday.

The KHL says in a statement that it is ''looking into the matters of the racist incident during the Spartak-Medvescak match'' and will decide what action to take in line with league regulations, adding that ''the league considers any actions of this kind inadmissible.''

While racism is rare in Russian hockey, the country has long struggled with racist incidents in soccer and is trying to crack down ahead of holding the World Cup in 2018.