The incident occurred after the game, during the players’ handshake, when a verbal conflict arose between Utena “Juventus” player Maxwell Lewis and Klaipėda “Neptūnas” player Martynas Pacevičius.
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After analyzing the collected audio recordings and visual material, the LKL Disciplinary Commission determined the exact phrase said by player M. Pacevičius to Utena “Juventus” player M. Lewis. To obtain motivated conclusions regarding the semantic, pragmatic, and contextual meaning of this phrase and its possible racist connotation, the LKL Disciplinary Commission consulted experts in language and linguistics as well as human rights.
Taking into account the entirety of all this evidence – the exact wording of the phrase said by the player, the conclusions of language, linguistics, and human rights experts – as well as evaluating the practice of Lithuanian courts and the European Court of Human Rights related to statements of a potentially discriminatory nature, the LKL Disciplinary Commission concluded that there is no basis to claim that basketball player Martynas Pacevičius discriminated against Maxwell Lewis because of his race or origin during the above-mentioned incident. The LKL Disciplinary Commission unanimously decided to recognize that M. Pacevičius did not commit a disciplinary violation under point 69.8 of the LKL Regulations or other points of the Regulations.
According to point 69.8 of the LKL regulations, a disciplinary violation is considered to be “unethical behavior of LKL participants related to discrimination against a person based on origin, race, nationality, religion, language, gender, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances or characteristics related to the person.”
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The LKL Disciplinary Commission for the 2025-2026 Betsson-LKL championship consisted of 5 (five) members: Paulius Jankūnas (President of Kaunas “Žalgiris” club), Jaroslav Latušinskij (Executive Director of Vilnius “Rytas” club), Eimantas Skersis (Manager of Utena “Juventus” team), Martynas Mažeika (Director of Klaipėda “Neptūnas”) and Žygintas Voronavičius (lawyer and advisor at LKL’s legal partner, the law firm Cobalt). M. Mažeika and E. Skersis recused themselves from this disciplinary case due to a conflict of interest, as they represent clubs involved in the disciplinary case.
The LKL takes every possible case of discrimination, racism, or other violations of human dignity principles very seriously and responsibly. The league strongly opposes any manifestations of racism, discrimination, incitement of hatred, or behavior degrading human dignity and urges the basketball community, clubs, players, coaches, fans, and all participants of LKL games to maintain respect for others, and to honor the fundamental rights and values of every person.
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