For basketball coach Poikola, the most important thing is that a good person is elected as chairman.
12:50•Updated 12:50
There are currently three names in the race for chairman of the Olympic Committee: Tapio Korjus63, Pieti Poikola46, and Petteri Kilpinen60 .
Among the candidates, Kilpinen has the most sports federations behind him. Most recently, the Basketball Association said that they had gone to support Kilpi.
President of the Basketball Association Timo Elo told Urheilu that it settled behind Kilpinen because the Basketball Association believes that he understands Finnish sports very broadly.
– Football associations traditionally try to find a common candidate, and in those discussions they have ended up with Petteri Kilpien. He has very good records of change management and good leadership experience. In addition to that, he has a solid sports background from the Nuori Suomi ry. He certainly understands Finnish sports very extensively.
One of the three candidates is basketball coach Pieti Poikola. According to Elo, Poikola has not been in contact with the Basketball Association.
“It’s important to find a good person”
Pieti Poikola announced that he would seek the presidency of the Finnish Olympic Committee at the beginning of November. At that time, it was known that no sports organization or sports federation was supporting Poikola’s candidacy in the presidential election. Urheilu caught up with Poikola to comment on the presidential race today, Wednesday.
Several sports associations, such as the Basketball Association, have come out in support of Petteri Kilpinen. Are you still going to pursue the presidency of the Olympic Committee?
– Let’s say I haven’t said no. There were discussions with a few unions. More than that, this has been a project where I wanted to bring new ideas. It’s not an unusually big disappointment if this doesn’t materialize here anyway.
Do you want to tell who you have negotiated with?
– Let’s leave it unmentioned.
Poikola wasn’t sure if he would still get supporters. However, he considers it an excellent thing that there have been more applicants for the chairman race.
– I think it is important that there are candidates and that there is a genuine discussion. Surely the most important thing is to find a good person for the job to take the work forward.
A new chairman, vice-chairman and board of directors will be elected for the Olympic Committee at the fall meeting on November 30.
Member organizations and associations of the Olympic Committee can vote. Each member has one or two votes depending on the member’s size and the Olympic status of the sport it represents.