When Finland’s elite biathlon skiers are getting ready for the opening of the world cup In Kontiolahti, their toughest domestic challengers compete from Thursday to Sunday in the lower category, i.e. IBU Cup, competitions in Sweden’s Idre.
Among the athletes selected by Idre, outside the A national team, i.e. without spending the Biathlon Association’s camping resources, prepared for the season, e.g. Those who have previously represented Finland in the World Cup and prestigious competitions Tuomas Harjula, Heikki Laitinen and Erika Jänkä. Among them, Harjula and Laitinen belong to the strength of the privately funded Team Electrofit team.
A significant part of the Finnish national team athletes compete in both the IBU Cup and the World Cup during the season, so those who start in Idress still get their chance on the main tour as well.
However, the friction between the trio mentioned under the starting competition season and the Biathlon Union is the decision made by the union’s board in September, which the athletes were not told about until the beginning of November. It was decided to collect sums called additional deductibles for the duration of the competition season from those who trained outside of the A national team.
Originally, the sums were the category manager Teemu Vesalan in the show, 500 euros for the so-called trimester, i.e. three World Cup-long competition rounds, or 170 euros for one World Cup. Since then, Vesala received the authority from the union’s board to drop the amounts to 450 and 150 euros. In addition to this, 400 euros will be charged for the representative clothing package.
There’s no way to get to zero
On top of additional deductibles, those who trained outside of the A national team pay a so-called results-based deductible for the competition season, which is 300 euros per competition week. You can halve the amount by finishing among the 60 in the World Cup competition and reset it by shooting and skiing for points, i.e. among the 40.
– On the other hand, these additional deductibles of those who trained outside of the A national team cannot be reset with any kind of result, Tuomas Harjula tells Urheilu.
He admits that his sense of logic and his understanding of equality are difficult. Biathlon Union was awarded recently At the IBU Congress, just for his high-quality equality work.
– If the athlete has not spent any of the association’s camping resources during the training season, how can this be equal to charging him additional deductibles to cover the expenses of the camping season? Harjula is amazed.
A deductible of 4,500 euros was collected for the training season between spring and autumn from the athletes of the A national team who participated in the camps, 2,700 euros at the B national team level.
It’s about principle
According to the athletes, it’s not about the sums per se, but the principle. Fiscal significance of additional deductible accumulation in its last fiscal year about 207,000 euros for the union that made a loss and for its national team activities is non-existent.
– The deductibles of the association’s groups have had to be increased because, for example, high-level training has been added, which we therefore did not participate in. According to the association, it is fair and equal that when the expenses of those training in the national teams have increased, we must now also contribute to those expenses, says Harjula.
According to him, Laitisen and Jängä, there would be an easy solution to the matter, i.e. the federation would draw up two different athlete contracts for each season: one for the training season, the other for the competition season. In his response to the athletes, Sports Manager Teemu Vesala considers the issue worthy of consideration, the same says to Urheilu on December 14, who will retire from the position of president of the association Kalle Lähdesmäki.
On a general level, sports federations collect deductibles from athletes to cover expenses arising from national team activities, which in a sport like biathlon are typically related to personnel, travel, accommodation and ski maintenance.
The bet is high
After last season, the Biathlon Union decided to invest heavily in training for the national team’s high position, because the next two prestigious competitions – the World Championships in Lenzerheide 2025 and the Olympic Games in Milan 2026, i.e. Anterselva for biathlon – will be contested at a high level.
The financial situation of the association is clearly improved by the fact that Kontiolahti is now back on the World Cup map after a year’s break.
– Of course, the aim is to not have to collect deductibles, but we live with reality. Now, efforts have been made to achieve national team activities that are financially uniform. Sport manager Vesala submitted a presentation, which was approved by the board. Every development proposal is very welcome, and the earlier they are received, the better there is time to prepare them for the following seasons, says chairman Lähdesmäki.
Tuomas Harjula admits that the timing of the announcement of additional deductibles right before the competition season annoyed the athletes a lot. Sports manager Vesala has apologized for this to the athletes.
– Especially when it dawned on us that the matter had already been decided by the union’s board at the beginning of September. It felt as if the matter had been covered up. This kind of information was as disgusting as possible to receive just before the season. Lack of transparency and poor communication is too often an athlete’s experience of the association’s activities, Harjula states.
Athlete representative to the board?
According to the athletes, one quick way to improve the situation in this regard would be to elect an athlete member to the association’s board as the representative and messenger of the results makers.
The Biathlon Union increased its deductible for the training or camping season from last season’s 2,500 euros to as much as 2,000 euros, which, however, is compensated by giving the athletes more advertising space for their own representative clothing.
According to the written answer given to the athletes by the head of sports, Vesala, it would not be equal and equal if those from outside the A national team activities were to get this visibility for free. If the athlete succeeds as a market horse with his own advertising space, he will at best remain on the plus side of the equation, despite the deductibles.