The Ministry of Education and Culture recent decision Summer sports athlete grants had a hard wrestler Konsta Mäenpää27.
In 2022, the European bronze medal for the 130-pound Ilmäjoki last year 10,000 In practice, the loss of the euro scholarship meant dripping on the poverty line.
– There is no wage income, there are no scholarships, there are only some small sponsors. This is a big disappointment, Mäenpää, a Greek-Roman species, told Sports about Zagreb.
He was in a good reason in the capital of Croatia. Zagreb Open There is a tournament in the species rankings and one of the toughest taken outside of the value races. Mäenpää’s performance in the tournament at the end of last week was great.
He finished second in his series Iranian World Champion Aliakbar YousofiaHmadchal After and overthrown, hard athletes from Azerbaijan, Belarus and Russia.
– Undeniably, the scholarship decision gave motivation and desire for evidence, Mäenpää admitted.
Other Finns in the tournament in Paris Olympic Visitors Jonni Sarkkinen (77 kg) and Arvi Savolainen (97 kg) ranked 14th and eighth.
Of these, Savolainen undoubtedly received a grant of 20,000 and Sarkkinen for € 10,000. The third wrestler of $ 10,000 or a larger grant was found in the same weight class as Mäenpää: a double European Championship and Tokyo Olympic Walker Elias Kuosmanenwho didn’t compete in Zagreb.
Mäenpää could not apply for the smallest grant of € 6,000, as it is earmarked for young athletes.
– Of course, I look at the criteria for the $ 10,000 grant I was applying and I would have earned it. This is difficult to accept, and I am currently drafting the appeal to the Ministry of Education and Culture, Mäenpää said.
He also complained in 2023 after freezing without a grant; Then the petition did not go through.
Hard rankings
If the criteria were the recent top score of Zagreb and the World Wrestling Union, the World Wrestling Athlete, it would be difficult to understand the treatment of Mäenpää.
In UWW’s latest ranking, he has been appreciated as the 12th best heaviest man in the world. In the Olympic weight classes, only Savolainen’s (6th) investment is better. Jonni Sarkkinen’s investment is the same as Mäenpää. Kuosmanen is not among the top 30.
-The 2025 athlete’s grant kept however Screens by the end of October 2024, says Executive Director Pasi Sarkkinen.
The leader understands the pain
Some of Mäenpää’s immediate circle has been wondering how Kuosmanen received a grant and Mäenpää did not.
– Elias’s scholarship spoke the first place in the tough tournament last spring in Turkey. In addition, he won the silver medalist of the Tokyo Games in the Olympic Qualification Tournament (Iakobi kajaiaGeorgia). Konsta’s European Bronze 2022 reported a tough international potential, but in the name of honesty, the results from 2023 and 2024 were not very good. Then the athlete is quite poor about the ministry’s grants, says Sarkkinen.
He emphasizes that he did not participate in this time of the grant evaluation process in the union because he was laid off due to the financial situation of the organization. He understands the pain of Mäenpää:
– This is not just about a tax -free grant and losing it. It is also about a scholarship athlete falling from the Olympic Committee’s efficiency subsidies, which will include, for example, the deductible fees for racing trips.
Installment option?
For Mäenpää, a trip to Croatia cost his income level a severe $ 1,350. He has asked the wrestling federation for installment.
– We would like to help more, but the financial situation of the union has been announced in public, says Sarkkinen.
Although each athlete must apply for a grant from the Ministry of Education and Culture, the conditions for success are also defined by the background process.
According to their list, the sports federations will provide a grant from athletes worthy of the Olympic Committee to the Top Sports Unit, which, in cooperation with the ministry sports officials, prepares a final proposal to the Minister of Sports.
The Wrestling Association presented EUR 10,000 to both Kuosmanen and Mäenpää, but in its listing set Kuosmanen above Mäenpää. It was obviously fatal for Mäenpää.
– In the follow -up process, the mower would swipe just between Elias and Konsta. We were even afraid that neither heavyweight would receive a grant, Sarkkinen admits.
Inspector general Kari Niemi-Nikkola The ministry reminds us that since a limited amount of money is distributed, this time EUR 1.386 million, the border is always drawn to something.
– Mäenpää’s thing is familiar and the ministry has been in contact with it. I understand it. The presentation provided by the top sports unit to the ministry did not include the name of Mäenpää, says Niemi-Nikkola.
The complaint rarely succeeds
The senior inspector points out that the grant decision is appealable. There are several complaints every year, but they rarely go through.
– I do not anticipate in any way how Mäenpää’s case is. Still (Tuesday), the complaint has not received us.
In Ilmajoki, a reputable emeritus coach Seppo Yli-Hannukselan Mäenpää, who has been practicing high quality recently, is not discouraged by the setback.
– Long-term hard work continues, says the wrestler, especially in the fitness and oxygen uptake side, especially.
Mäenpää is aiming next 7-13. April for the European Championships in Bratislava. Head coach Marko Korpela gave the STT Understand that a strong presentation in Zagreb improved the shares of Ilmäjokinen in the selection game.