Olli Rehn, who comes from a strong skiing family, was asked to become president of the Ski Association. The Governor of the Bank of Finland said no thanks to the big sports club for the second time, writes Pekka Holopainen.
Pekka Holopainen sports reporter
With less than three weeks to go until the meeting of the federal council, which will shake up the board of the Ski Federation and elect a new chairman, the umbrella organization of traditional sports is in a unique situation.
So far, only the head of Eerikkilä’s football-specialized sports college has publicly announced his candidacy Sirpa Korkatti.
He harnessed his chariot of fire already in November, after which new names have been eagerly awaited for the race. It’s been quiet. Of course, it was told about the leadership of the federal council on Thursday For Helsingin Sanomatthat Korkatti would not be the only candidate.
The election committee of the Federal Council will meet this weekend at the Salpausselkä Games to discuss the matter of the chairman. In the background discussions, the sports academy boss Korkatti is considered a hard worker, but there are doubts about his social specific gravity.
Above all, the voters doubt Korkat’s ability to manage and make changes, which the new chairman will have enough of after the economic numbers have been read to the federal council in Jyväskylä in three weeks.
Korkatti has been sitting on the executive board for the last few years as a representative of cross-country skiing, so he is so-called an old face and a participant in what happened.
Search patrols on the move
The staff of the skiing association also expects a reaction from the new president to last spring’s emergency call regarding issues related to the organization’s management. A receding line of trust Markku Haapasalmen the management did not start to turn very big stones around the matter.
After Korkat’s involvement, search scouts were on the move chasing counter-candidates. At the end of the line was the commander of the Defense Forces, who will soon be transferred to the reserve, a general Timo Kivinen. The union will not get him the third general locomotive in its history Ali Koskimaan and Matti Aution to continue. The man with four collared lions politely said no.
The former head coach and Urheilu’s expert did the same, confused by the contact Petter Kukkonen. He didn’t see a man who looked like the president of the Ski Association in his bathroom mirror.
Undeterred by the setbacks, the sharp end of the federal council continued to search. Now the recruitment attempt was not aimed at just anywhere, but at an institution where using free time for skiing training was equated to doping, which is prohibited in sports, in the legends of the time. The call was received by the center’s recent presidential candidate, the CEO of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn.
Although Rehn is first and foremost thought of as a football player, the family’s skiing background is strong. A sister who tragically died in a car accident in 1987 Shirpa Rehn was a high-level competitive skier and a mother Vuokko Rehn the long-term background character of Mikkeli Hiihtäjie, the great club of the time.
A vote would not have been necessary
It is quite clear that if Olli Rehn had given the green light, no vote for the chairman would have been necessary. However, the answer from the central banker was a big disappointment, a polite refusal.
Olli Rehn tells Urheilu that the pan-European integrity rules for central bank governors take a very harsh view of such positions of trust outside of the main job, which are strongly related to monetary aspects. Rehn, who travels for work more than 100 days a year, also saw time management challenges.
This was already the second time that Rehn, with the same, irrefutable arguments, refuses to be nominated for the sports trust position in the heaviest category. In 2017, the Balloliitto chairman recruiters received the same answer as the Ski Federation now.
There was still one ace left, i.e. the long-term major financier of the national ski team, the main owner and chairman of the board of the energy company St1 Nordic Mika Anttonen. He told Urheilu on Thursday that no question has been asked and the questioner would get the same answer as Kivinen, Kukkose and Rehn.
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