Eveliina Määttänen clocked a SE time in the 800 meters in February, but the statistical validity of the Finnish record is at risk due to the forgotten license fee.
Eveliina Määttänen celebrated a new Finnish record in the 800-meter indoor track at the beginning of February, when he clocked a time of 2:01.57 in the competition held in Torun, Poland.
However, on Monday, reported that the result of the international competition is not statistically valid in Finland, because Määttänen’s competition license had not been paid.
The Finnish Sports Confederation requires athletes to pay a license fee of 39 euros in order for the competition permit to be valid. In foreign competitions, however, a license is not required.
Whose responsibility was it to pay for the license?
– Basically, it’s my own mistake, but on the other hand, the license issue also goes through the club, Määttänen spins.
Although Määttänen admits that the slip was due to his own actions, he also points criticism towards SUL.
– It is unfortunate that the accident has happened. The system should be built in such a way that such forgetfulness cannot happen. I hope that we will learn from this and correct the mistakes so that something similar does not happen again.
However, the fate of Finland’s record is still open, as the winter’s domestic SE results will not be official until May. Competition manager of the Finnish Sports Association Mika Muukka admitted on Monday to Urheilu that SUL is in a difficult situation regarding the decision.
Although Määttänen is upset and the case is still being processed, he tries to put the commotion behind him and continue preparing for the upcoming value competitions.
– I plan to continue training normally towards the summer, regardless of whether this will eventually become an official SE time or if it will just remain my own record.