Eugene Kolychev announced Thursday he has been fired from his role as general manager of the Ukrainian Hockey League.

Kolychev said the decision came after he spoke out against racism in response to Andri Denyskin's racist gesture towards Jalen Smereck in a UHL game last week. Kolychev called on the IIHF to conduct their own investigation into the incident.

Denyskin, a forward for HC Kremenchuk, received a total of a 13-game suspension and a fine for the action on Wednesday, as announced by Kolychev.

The 23-year-old was ejected from the game between the two teams on Sunday after taunting Smereck, who is Black, by mimicking peeling a banana and eating it.

Smereck, a defenceman with HC Donbass Donetsk, announced Tuesday he would be taking an indefinite personal leave of absence from hockey. 

The International Ice Hockey Federation could still hand out its own punishment to Denyskin, whose actions they condemned in a statement earlier this week.

"The IIHF condemns in the strongest possible terms the actions of Andri Denyskin," said IIHF president Luc Tardif in a statement on Monday. "There is no place for such a blatantly racist and unsportsmanlike gesture in our sport and in society.

"This a direct assault on the ideals and values of our game, and we will ensure that all necessary ethics violation investigations occur to ensure that this behaviour is sanctioned appropriately."

Denyskin issued an apology to his Instagram account following the incident, but the post was later deleted.