Roope Räty, vice president of Jokereiten Eteläpääty ry, wants clarity in the club’s big picture.
– Feeling shocked and disappointed. Even though as a fan you are in a rather inactive position, you still feel like the rug has been pulled from under your feet. This is a big part of life for so many Joker fans. It saddens me on behalf of all joker fans that this situation has come to this.
– The understanding that has come to me from the direction of the league is that such a license agreement must be concluded by the end of October. In relation to that, we have lived here. This kind of message has come from many directions.
– Now suddenly there is such a change of direction, which is a bit surprising. And we’re not talking about this season, but about a year from now. It would be really interesting to hear what is behind the fact that the head has turned from one direction to another.
“Is the League about to open?”
According to the SM league, the path to the main series goes through Mestis. What does Räty think about Mestis speeches?
– Should that be interpreted as the SM league is about to open? Last time I checked, the league was a closed series. Of course, they have their own criteria for how they include teams. I understood that Jokerit as a team coming from a foreign series would have made it possible to meet the criteria. Apparently now the criteria or someone else has changed, Räty reflects.
– You probably have to come through Mesti, but there is still a closed series system. It’s kind of confusing. We would like more information in this regard as well.
The future is therefore also a big question mark from the supporters’ point of view. Räty wants to start by having discussions with different parties about how the situation in question has been reached.
– The under-20 league season is about to start. There are definitely joker fans who come to watch those games. However, this big picture needs to have some clarity. We need to have thorough discussions on how to get the entire Jokerit family on a solid footing and make the future look the way it should.