A week ago, Koovee didn’t get a license for Mestis because the finances weren’t in order.
18:57•Updated 19:47
The background company of the traditional Tampere ice hockey team Koovee is filing for bankruptcy.
Koovee Hockey’s bankruptcy application started on Monday in Pirkanmaa district court. Told about it first Morning paper.
Koovee Hockey’s main owner and chairman of the board Janne Virtanen says that the company ended up filing for bankruptcy because the Ice Hockey Federation rejected Koovee’s license application for the Mestis season 2024-2025.
A week ago, Koovee was not granted a license for Mestis, the second highest league level in hockey.
Koovee’s application did not meet the conditions set by the Ice Hockey Federation’s license committee because the financial affairs were not in order.
Preliminary plan for capitalization
According to Virtanen, the license decision was a surprise. He says that Koovee applied for a license in the same way as in previous years.
– Profitability is no better this year than last year. We had a solid plan for the capitalization, which we have always done during May, says Virtanen.
Virtanes is left with the impression that Koovee was wanted out of the series and the discussions that took place during the last season. He says that he means various discussions about the finances of Mestis clubs.
Virtanen says that he took a strong part in these discussions.
– There are a few people in the union who wanted Kooveen out, says Virtanen.
Virtanen hopes for free competition in hockey
Virtanen says that the poor profitability of the Mestis clubs is due to the fact that the Ice Hockey Association has lost its decision-making power in the direction of the league.
– All decisions are always tested by an agreement between the Jääkieksoliito and the SM league. Mestis is in the position of a stepchild, says Virtanen.
Virtanen believes that in the future, free competition in Finnish ice hockey will increase and the policy of dictating and ordering will be a thing of the past.
Koovee’s final ranking in the regular season of the Mestis season was tenth.
The season ended in the wild card round of the playoffs. Koovee played its home match in Tampere’s Hakametsä hall.
It made a loss of more than 350,000 euros in the 2022–2023 fiscal year.
The article was supplemented on May 6, 2024 at 19:46 with an interview with Janne Virtanen, chairman of the board of Koovee Hockey.