Finland is aiming for an EC place without its number one target – only the head coach and an experienced player could be asked about Lauri Kerminen’s retirement

The Finnish men’s national volleyball team will start the EC qualifiers on Saturday evening with an away match in Valmiera against Latvia. Finland is aiming for nine consecutive European Championship places without its star libero Lauri from Kermi.

Kerminen, 29, was shelved by the Volleyball Federation last week because he may continue his career in Russia. Kerminen has been playing in Russia since 2015 and won the championship in Moscow Dynamo in the spring. Kerminen received a lot of criticism when he did not leave his company after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Kerminen said in May that he was willing to terminate his contract, and the matter was already progressing, until the club’s top authorities announced the financial sanctions that termination would cause. According to Kerminen, the sanction amount “wasn’t far short of a million”.

– Because the sum was so huge, I had to stay in Russia due to financial issues, even if I wanted to return to Finland, Kerminen stated in May.

Now, in any case, the Volleyball Federation announced that Kerminen, who is negotiating the continuation of his career, has not excluded Russia from his options, and that is why he has been shelved.

Head coach of the Finnish national team Joel Banks emphasized to Urheilu on the eve of the opening match of the EC qualifiers that he had an open discussion about the matter with Kerminen and the Volleyball Association.

– We knew that this is a problematic situation, and the best way to deal with it is to talk. We know each other well and have worked together. It was an open and clear discussion between all parties, Banks begins.

President of the Volleyball Association Lauri Inna said earlier that the decision to leave Kerminen from the national team before the important EC qualifiers in August was the only possible solution. Inna said that head coach Banks had approached the association and asked for a policy on the matter. The union’s management then made a decision to dismiss Kerminen.

According to Banks, the Volleyball Federation had all the necessary information to make a solution after the discussions with Kerminen and Banks.

– The situation was considered and evaluated carefully.

Lauri Kerminen himself did not want to comment on his situation to Urheilu.

Banks says that he has been in regular contact with Kerminen and says that Kerminen can still be part of the national team’s plans in the future.

– My task is to do my best in this project in the Finnish Volleyball Association. Of course, I also consider the players and the staff as individuals. My job is to do everything for the national team and I have said that to the players and to Lauri as well, Banks acknowledges the question of how difficult the decision to shelve was considering the success of the national team on the one hand and the values ​​of the head coach on the other.

The 32-year-old returned to the national team at the end of the summer Lauri Sinkkonen answered questions about Kermis. Instead, Banks said no from younger players Nuutti from Niinivaara or From Fedor Ivanov can ask Kermis because they are not prepared for it.

– It hasn’t been terribly customary to comment on other people’s things that are personal. Especially if I don’t know everything about it. I have the same ideas as the union has given. When we’ve been on the phone with Lauri, we usually talk about things other than volleyball, Sinkkonen stated.

Sinkkonen says that Kerminen had told the team what was going on in the meeting.

– As such, nothing has changed. We are here to play volleyball and apply for a place in the competition. Of course, it has been a prominent figure in the national team for a long time.

Now the libero plot is managed by people born in 1999 Voitto Köykkä and Niklas Breilin.

The story continues after the video.

– Our goal is clear. We want a ticket to the European Championship next summer. It has been clear from the beginning, regardless of who plays in our qualifying group, says Joel Banks.

– The team is ready, the preparations have gone well. I am confident.

It would be a big surprise if Finland couldn’t grab a place in the European Championships. Latvia and Austria will play in Finland’s group. The winner of each qualifying group advances to the European Championship, and in addition, the five best second-placed teams from each group qualify for the tournament. There are seven blocks in total.

The story continues after the match program.

In last autumn’s European Championships, Finland played its initial group in Tampere. The experienced guard included, among other things, passers Mikko Esko and Eemi Terporttiwood chipper Urpo Sivula and Kerminen. That four is not in the team now.

– It’s time for a new story. We can look back with satisfaction on the past 20 years, what the Finnish national team has achieved. Now it is important to look ahead and it is time for young players to create their own story.

Now the Finnish team’s clearly most experienced players, measured in terms of number of international matches, are the midfielders Tommi Siirilä (146 international matches) and Sinkkonen (137). The young guard is represented by, among others, the 21-year-old passari Ivanov and the two woodcutters, 23-year-old Aaro Nikula and Joonas Jokela.

Finland’s summer was promising in light of the results, when the rejuvenated team won nine out of ten matches. However, four of Finland’s victories came against Hungary and four against Estonia. In addition, Finland beat North Macedonia and lost to Romania.

According to Banks, the summer was productive, but now in the EC qualifiers we will see how the young team will do when the results really matter.

– Latvia is a strong team. They have a lot of experienced players over 30 years old who have played hundreds of these games. They are in the same situation as we were a year ago. We have done our homework and prepared for them sufficiently, says Banks about the opening match of the qualifiers.

Volleyball European Championship qualification Latvia–Finland on Saturday 6 August. Live broadcast at Areena at 17:50, summary on TV2 at 21:30.