HIFK, which plays in the Veikkausliiga, said in June that the acute need is half a million euros for this year and 140,000 euros in June. Chairman Heikki Pajunen says that there is still talk of 350,000 euros.
The financial situation of Helsinki IFK in the men’s football league looks brighter than in June.
– Things got off to a good start, but there is still a long way to go for the whole season. This situation is not over, but if the reception and continuation is as good as it has been for the past couple of weeks, then there is nothing to worry about, says the chairman and one of the main owners of HIFK Fotboll AB to Urheilule now Heikki Pajunen.
Pajunen said in mid-June that the acute need is half a million euros for this year and 140,000 euros in June. The threat was the suspension of the season and the continuation of the representative team’s activities in the fourth highest league level, where HIFK’s second team plays.
What is the situation like at the moment, that you will definitely be able to play this season to the end?
– An awful lot less worry than two weeks ago. This is not yet confirmed. Yes, work and negotiations are done all the time with our sleeves rolled up. We cannot say with 100% certainty that the financial worries of the whole season are over. It seems brighter at the moment, but there are also big discussions.
Pajunen says that the economic situation has been improved through small streams, both through ticket sales, ticket sales and partnerships.
What kind of sums are we talking about, what do you still need to raise during this season to be able to get through the season?
– Yes, 350,000 euros is roughly what is needed for the rest of the season.
“Partnership sales like smoke in the air”
Pajunen said in June that despite the difficult situation, the company has been able to pay all statutory payments and salaries to its employees.
Pajunen, who worked as a referee in the football league, and his investor colleagues left HIFK’s background with great expectations last November. The company was also in dire need of financing at that time. The group led by Pajunen was supposed to stabilize the operation and start building the future.
In its open letter, HIFK cited the war in Ukraine as the reason why fundraising has not been successful. In addition, Pajunen said that the war has affected the business of the company’s current owners.
– Without a doubt, it was the most important thing that due to the situation in Ukraine, partnership sales went on hold. Everyone’s answer was that we will come back to the matter in August for 2023, when this year is so hectic and uncertain. In practice, it meant that the entire year’s partnership sales, which had been budgeted, disappeared like smoke, Pajunen says now.
With the exception of the HJK derby, HIFK’s audience numbers from the beginning of the season hover around 1,200 spectators. In the capital region’s local game against Honka, the number was less than a thousand.
– The HJK game raises the averages, but of course it is budgeted. I can’t give direct figures, how many more paying viewers should have been in order for it to have saved the matter. We hadn’t budgeted any very high-flying figures. But of course, if there are a thousand spectators against the top teams, we didn’t budget for that.
In its open letter, HIFK appealed to its community and announced that the goal is to sell 20,000 tickets for the next four home matches. After that, the nightless night VPS match had 3,060 spectators.
After the VPS loss, HIFK has played one match, when it took its first win of the season away from Ilves. Ilves will also face Monday night’s home match.
HIFK hosts Ilves in Monday night’s only Veikkausliiga match at 6 p.m.
The European games also start this week:
On the weekend of 9.–10.7. matches will be played in the Veikkausliiga:
League standings (updated before the HIFK–Ilves match on Monday 4 July)