Ari Lahti, president of the Finnish Football Association, has opened up about the Huuhkajie head coach issue in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat.
Chairman of the Finnish Football Association Ari Lahti commented to Helsingin Sanomat Huhkaji’s head coach Markku Kanervan the future.
Kanerva’s contract with Pallloiito is valid until the end of this year. On Thursday, it became clear that the Finnish men’s national football team will not make it to this year’s European Championships. Huuhkajat lost to Wales with 1–4 goals in the European Championship play-offs.
The continuation of Kanerva has become a big topic of conversation. With a win in Wales, Huuhkajat would have played against Poland in Helsinki on Tuesday for a place in the European Championship. Now at Plympiastadion, Finland will play a practice match against Estonia.
Lahti plans to talk with Kanerva about the future after the match against Estonia. Lahti tells Helsingin Sanomat that at the moment Kanerva is basically going to continue until the end of the year.
– We have played three Nations Leagues, two European Championship qualifiers and one World Cup qualifier. However, his result in them is reasonably good. We have to remember that we started from a situation where Finland was a three-four basket country in the draws. According to my calculations, we have played 49 competitive matches under Kanerva, and the winning percentage is over 50. It is not a bad performance, Lahti told Helsingin Sanomat.
Lahti states that after the 2021 European Championship, Kanerva has brought a lot of new players to the national team.
– We are still in the construction phase of renewing the national team. You have to see things in a bigger picture. Of course, after yesterday’s game and that performance, there is a bit of a distorted view. Fortunately, I was able to sleep through the night and put things into perspective for myself, says Lahti.
According to Lahti, Palloliito has done a “basic survey” of the next head coach.
– No discussions have taken place. But I know we have the capacity to make decisions. Now we will have discussions with Kanerva and then we will see what situation we are in, says Lahti.
– As an example, when hiring the head coach of Helmarie, we seriously considered a foreign option. This is a global competition. Our goal is to get the best possible coach that we can attract financially or with the help of other circumstances to Finland. Citizenship is irrelevant.