The Helsinki Football Club announced on Tuesday that in the future the club’s women’s representative team will operate as its own limited company.
The change aims for more professional activities in women’s major league football and realistic opportunities for professional football in Finland in the future.
The project initiator and main financier Sammeli Sammalkorven according to HJK had been thinking about how to get women’s competitive soccer to the next level for a long time.
– There is a commercial opportunity here, because women’s football is on the rise internationally. On the other hand, this is also an opportunity to make a concrete act of equality in football and team sports in general. Equality is still a long way off, however, and this is just a small step to bring equality to team sports.
Funding collected “two million” euros
In the project, HJK’s women’s representative team will be incorporated into its own limited company, for which investors have been sought. According to Sammalkorvi, “two million” of funding has been collected. In five years, the joint-stock company aims to achieve a significant turnover and make the operation profitable.
Until now, HJK’s National League league place and competition activities have operated under HJK ry, which is also responsible for the club’s grassroots activities. In the future, the women’s representative team, like the men’s representative team, will be under its own limited company.
HJK ry is also involved in the project as one of the main owners.
According to Sammalkorvi, establishing a joint stock company is necessary in order to achieve sustainable sporting and financial success. At the same time, the goal is to make the National League more competitive and financially profitable.
– The big European clubs have realized that in addition to men’s football, there is also women’s football, which can be commercialized. It is growing by tens of percent annually. This potential is untapped in Finland, Sammalkorpi sums up.
– And you don’t even have to look very far. HJK oy has made this work on the men’s side.
The project’s second anchor investor Mariet Louhennon according to the joint stock company, the goal is to have a professionally functioning financial entity, which enables high-quality work on the sports side.
– The project is about the possibility of developing the activities of HJK’s women’s representative team in a more professional manner, Louhento clarifies.
Lessons intended to be shared at the level of the National League
Louhento is also the chairman of the board of the National League, in addition to which he has promoted the position of women’s football in the board of the Finnish Football Association.
He describes the arrangement as a start-up project, from which the participating investors also gain meaning. The goal is not quick profits, but sustainable and financially profitable operations, which will support the players’ quality everyday life in the future.
In the future, the plan is to share the know-how at the level of the National League.
– The league will get better when the teams and clubs in the background develop.
A media entrepreneur elected as the chairman of the board of the limited company Anu Ubaud emphasizes that the big picture is ultimately about the joint development of Finnish women’s football.
The goals include the growth of football business through match events and partnerships. In the end, both are about the audience potential of women’s football, but also about equality.
In addition to commercial potential and sporting success, investors and partners also have a window for social equality and the promotion of equality in sports. The goal is that in the future in Finland, professionalism in women’s football can be considered a realistic option.
– We dream of a world where all children truly have equal opportunities for their dreams in the field of football. Actions like this have a huge meaning, says Ubaud.
The chairman of the board of HJK ry and a board member of the Finnish Football Association also believe in the power of example Kimmo J. Lipponen, who will also be seen on the board of the new company. Lipponen hopes that in the future idols of young girls will be found in local clubs.
– All children who play football must have the opportunity to dream of becoming a professional. Let’s help girl players make their dreams come true in such a way that it is possible in Finland.
Professionalism requires a background of professionalism
According to Lipponen, the new arrangement aims to ensure that the team fights for the championship at home every year and plays matches in international competitions. Lipponen hopes that the changes will give a boost to the top end of HJK’s player path and the operation of the women’s representative team.
– In the name of honesty, we have already come a long way in terms of professionalism, but there is still work to be done in terms of professionalism, so that, for example, the players’ financial compensation starts to rise.
According to Lipponen, the international top is going really hard and Finland has a lot of work to keep up with international developments. For example, exemplary work has been done in Sweden.
– The fall of the USA was no accident, even if it was a matter of millimeters, Lipponen refers to the thriller seen at the World Championships on Sunday.
In addition to Ubaud, Sammalkorvi, Louhenno and Lipponen, the board of the new limited company includes a long-time employee of marketing communications and sports sponsorship Hasse Eranka. Currently, the limited company is looking for a CEO.