HJK and Palloliitto agreed on a different locker room arrangement in good agreement. Helmarit will only be able to train at the Töölö football stadium on the eve of the match against Croatia.
Roope Visuri,
Hinn Hirvonen
Helmarit will not be able to enter the dressing room of the HJK men’s representative team at the Töölö football stadium this week when they play a Nations League match against Croatia on Friday.
Friday’s Croatia match is also the 50th anniversary match of Helmarei. In the past, Helmarit has been allowed to use HJK’s men’s locker room, but now Helmarit has to use the so-called guest team’s locker room.
The matter will be confirmed to Urheilu by the events manager of the Palloliitto Ville Nylund.
Palloliitto operates at the Töölö football stadium as a tenant of HJK, so Nylund directs questions about the reasons to HJK’s commercial manager Sirja to Luomaniemi.
According to Luomaniemi, the doors of HJK’s men’s locker room cannot be opened or premises can be rented while the team’s season is still in progress.
– At HJK, it is a choice of values. Especially in the middle of a team’s season, the locker room is a sacred place. There are all the team’s own supplies and goods in their respective places. In many ways, a dressing room is much more than a closet and walls. It is an important home base for the men’s representative team, says Luomaniemi.
According to Luomaniemi, they have made a new policy regarding the use of the locker room, as the seasons have lengthened and the teams have developed. HJK’s Veikkausliiga season ended last weekend with the Finnish championship, but they are still playing in European club team competitions in the Conference League.
HJK is currently on an away game trip. On Thursday, the German team Eintracht Frankfurt will face.
According to Luomaniemi, the locker room issue has been perceived as important in HJK’s men’s representative team.
– We want to support it. We want to calm down the dressing room for our team, which is also on an away game trip. The locker room will always be our team’s space, says Luomaniemi.
According to the HJK boss, the situation would be the same if Huuhkajat played at the Töölö football stadium now.
Both parties praise the framework
According to both Palloliitto’s Nylund and HJK’s Luomaniemi, a good understanding was reached on the locker room issue.
– We will get slightly bigger facilities for the Finnish team. Other match arrangement modes will have to be modified. However, we get good conditions for all our operators, says Nylund.
So the European football association Uefa doesn’t come up with any rules about what kind of dressing rooms should be used?
– Tomorrow (Thursday) a delegate will come. The delegate looks at the premises. I don’t think there will be any trouble, Nylund answers.
The head coach of the helmets Marko Saloranta says that the locker room used by Helmarie was visited at the time of the announcement of the team.
– We were in that booth by Andrée Jeglertz time (2010–2016) always in home matches. We have all the framework at the end of the day. I haven’t been to the Croatia booth yet. I’ve been there once when I was Honga’s coach, Saloranta says.
Helmarit has also been practicing since the beginning of the week on Monday at Tali’s hall and on Tuesday and Wednesday at Pihlajamäki. According to Saloranta, the background has been, for example, HJK’s European game week. HJK plays the Uefa Youth League series, i.e. the Euroseries for under-19s, on Wednesday night at the Töölö stadium. For Thursday’s finishing practice, Helmarit will be able to go to the Töölö stadium.
– We have had a good framework in Pihlajamäki. Hats off to that framework and how welcome we’ve been there, says Saloranta.
The last time Helmarit played at the Töölö football stadium was in April 2022, when Finland faced Georgia in the World Cup qualifying match. More than 7,000 tickets have been sold for Friday’s celebratory match, so the match will set a new attendance record for Helmareit, excluding the value races.
shows the meeting between Helmari and Croatia. Live broadcast on Friday on TV2 and Areena at 18:15. The match itself starts at 18:45.