Soccer coach Simo Valakarin and Kuopio Palloseura’s joint period ended on Friday the 13th. Valakari, who has coached KuPS to the top of the Veikkausliiga twice to the Finnish Cup and silver in the Finnish Championship, had his contract until the end of the 2023 season terminated by “mutual understanding”.
The quotation marks around the word are because Valakar’s time in the Kuopio club ended rather dull.
KuPS published about it announcement (you will switch to another service), which tasted very salty with its design. Also sitting as a board member of KuPS Matti Reinikainen was listed at the end of it as providing additional information. His title was recorded as “lawyer”, according to his profession.
According to the association, Valakari had informed his employer “that he no longer has the passion and ability to coach the KuPS representative team”. The release also said that the KuPS coaching team had lost their trust in Valakar.
The end result must be understood for both parties. Valakari didn’t feel he was getting enough from Kuopio’s yellow blacks, the KuPS management team could no longer work with him.
Simo Valakari has repeatedly expressed his desire to coach abroad. He will also get his wish fulfilled soon. MTV Urheilu was the first to report (you will switch to another service)that Valakari would be on his way to FK Auda, which plays in the Latvian premier league.
What is the Latvian rising club linked to the Russian oligarchs, with which Valakari has negotiated? Why does Valakari want to join a team in Latvia that sports-wise offers very similar things to KuPS?
It all started in Motherwell
Last summer, everything seemed to be still in place.
KuPS led the Veikkausliiga by five points to Helsinki Football Club when July turned into August. It had progressed to the semi-finals in the Finnish Cup and to the third qualifying round in the Conference League qualifiers.
The change happened quickly. Motherwell, which plays in the Scottish Premier League, was looking for a new manager, and the Scottish press named Simo Valakari as one of the club’s candidates.
There were many reasons. During his extensive playing career, Valakari represented Motherwell in 1996–2000. He was also the manager of the club in 2015 and 2016. While coaching Seinäjoki Football Club in 2015, Motherwell offered Valakar a position, but SJK refused to give him up. Valakari and SJK parted ways in February 2017.
Valakari was according to the Scottish newspaper Herald (you will switch to another service) participated in last summer’s application process until the end. On August 11, Motherwell announced that they had chosen the position by Steven Hammell.
The Motherwell rumors started a millstone movement inside KuPS, which covered the team’s activities.
– Actually, trust started to crumble from there, when the Motherwell connection became public. Härdelli started it when he received a contract offer from abroad, KuPS board member Reinikainen admitted to Urheilu.
Transfer rumors intensified
After the end of the season, the transfer rumors started.
MTV Urheilu told (you will switch to another service) first in December that HJK had offered a contract to Valakar. A few weeks later was told (you will switch to another service) about the Latvian Auda’s offer to Valakari and KuPS. KuPS later confirmed to Urheilu that the Latvian club has been after Valakar and has also been in contact with KuPS.
Afterwards, it is easy to see the transfer rumors as proof that Valakari wanted to make public his desire to move elsewhere.
Reinikainen, who was the representative of the Kuopio club in the termination of the contract, said that the club has interpreted that Valakari himself was leaking transfer rumors to the public.
Latvian climbing club
FK Auda, who wants Valakari as their head coach, is a newcomer among the clubs that want to reach the top of the Latvian premier league.
Russian Andrei Vilenkin owned until the beginning of 2022, the 32-year-old club won its first trophy last fall, the Latvian Cup, and at the same time grabbed a European place for the first time in its history. It finished fifth in the Latvian Virsliga.
The performance is excellent considering that the club was promoted to the main league only last season. Auda would have risen to Latvia’s highest league level if the Latvian Football Association had not denied it its league license in February 2021.
Auda was not considered to meet the union’s requirements in the categories related to the club’s academy and infrastructure. At that time, it played in its stadium, which attracted 520 spectators.
Since then, the club has moved to play on rent at Riga’s Skonto stadium, which attracts more than 8,000 spectators. It plays in the stadium on rent, as another major league club Riga FC owns the stadium.
Riga FC is in close cooperation with Auda. Riga, which quickly became the most successful Latvian club, is influenced by Russian oligarchs, who are also connected to Valakar’s son, Good luck to Valakar.
Affiliated with oligarchic clubs
The oligarchs Sergei Lomakin and Roman Dubov own three football clubs: Riga FC from Riga, Pafos FC from Cyprus and Rodina Moscow from Russia.
There is also a holiday according to the Latvian media (you will switch to another service) placed on the “black list” of the Latvian government a couple of years ago. This means that even Loma should not visit the country. The management of Riga FC has denied this.
Lomakin and Dubov are involved in the one set in Dubai Evolt Sport Management (you switch to another service) in the management company. It represents several football players playing in Paphos and Riga FC.
In turn, he has been registered as CEO of Evolt Sport Management since 2019 Fransis Žustēns Zodeugans, who works as the sports director of FK Auda. Zoudegans belongs Latvian media according to Delfi (you will switch to another service) also to Auda’s board.
In Delfi’s story, it is said that several sources have indicated that the clubs have connected together before. Last season, Riga FC loaned four players to Auda. For the upcoming Latvian premier league season, two players from Auda moved to Riga on a free transfer, from which two players also moved to Auda for free.
Coaches have also been traded between clubs. The one who led Audan to the cup win and the Conference League qualification spot Tomislav Stipic took over as head coach of Riga FC at the turn of the year.
If Simo Valakar becomes the head coach of FK Auda, from then on two of his family members will represent the team of the oligarch duo’s football empire. Onni Valakari has represented Paphos since January 2020. The 23-year-old Valakari signed an extension contract with the Cypriot main league club at the end of November.
Valakari will not continue in Finland
At least at the moment, Auda seems like Valakari’s only possible new address. He will not stay in Finland.
Even after terminating the KuPS contract, Valakaria is still subject to its measure and the related contractual penalty. If Valakari were to start as the head coach of a domestic club before November of this year, the contractual penalty clause would be activated.
According to Urheilu’s information, the contract fine in question is several hundreds of thousands of euros.
Simo Valakari has shown himself to be a high-quality coach and a professional who is passionate about his work. However, his ambition has also been seen in the fact that he has run into conflicts with the club management at SJK, in Tromsø IL (you switch to another service) and at KuPS.
Moving to Latvia offers certain same things as KuPS, such as the possibility of European games. Otherwise, a possible transfer to the Latvian premier league can be considered a step at the same level, not a step forward.
The fact that Valakari has wanted to take a step to FK Auda is the most proof that he wanted to leave KuPS. Anywhere.