Kiekko-Espoo believes that it meets the criteria and will play in the SM league next season.
On Monday, Kiekko-Espoo, which is aiming for a spot in the hockey SM league next season, submitted its license application to the SM league. He was the first to tell about it Evening News.
– We have submitted the necessary documentation and reports on the current situation and future plans to the license committee, CEO of Kiekko-Espoo Aku Kallonen confirmed to Urheilu.
The last day to submit the license application is tomorrow, Tuesday. Kiekko-Espoo already said at the beginning of October that it intends to submit an application. Before that, the SM League announced that it would still accept new license applications for the 2024–25 season.
Kallonen did not go into detail about the content of the application.
– The application contained elements that have also been circulated in the public domain. A large number of different documents.
The criteria for promotion to the league are related to sports credibility, junior organization, conditions and finances, among other things. Kiekko-Espoo has a strong belief that the application will be accepted and the club will be seen in the league next season.
– Of course, we wouldn’t have submitted the application if we didn’t believe it would be accepted. We hope that if there are possible requests for further clarification, we can have an open dialogue as we have done so far.
The Licensing Committee processes the application and can ask for additional clarification requests if necessary. The league is scheduled to decide on the approval or rejection of the license application by the end of the regular season, i.e. by mid-March. Kiekko-Espoo hopes that the decision will come sooner.
– We hope for prompt processing. Everyone surely understands that if we want to play in the league next season with a team that is as credible as possible in terms of sportsmanship, it would be vital, for example, in terms of player contracts, that we could prepare as quickly as possible, Kallonen stated.