The successor of Matti Heikkinen, who led the Olympic Committee’s elite sports unit for two years, will probably be chosen only by the next government.
The recruitment process for the head of the Olympic Committee’s elite sports unit will probably drag on until the end of the year and end up on the desk of the new board.
There has been turbulence in the Olympic Committee since Finland missed a medal at the Paris Olympics. Last Wednesday, the committee announced that Matti Heikkinen will not continue as the head of the top sports unit and Leena Paavolainen as the manager of sports and competition programs.
The press release stated that the application process for a new top sports director has begun. However, the position has not yet been opened for public search.
Chairman of the Olympic Committee Jan Vapaavuori estimates that the new top sports leader will only be chosen after the presidential election in November.
– My thinking is that the decision will be made by the next government, but since the process is long and requires time, the matter must be prepared already during this government. But of course the government decides, Vapaavuori told Urheilu via text message.
Vapaavuori announced on Sunday that he will not apply for another term as chairman of the Olympic Committee.
– There is no single reason for this, but it is the sum of many and many types of factors, some of which are personal. I am not going to comment on these reasons in more detail, he wrote in the message service X.