SM-liiga announces that the league’s license criteria will be completely re-evaluated. It is currently not possible to apply for a league license for the 2024–25 season.
Ice Hockey Championship League reportthat it is currently not possible to apply for a license for the SM league for the 2024–2025 season. Hämeen Sanomat was the first to report on the matter.
The SM-liiga decided at the extraordinary general meeting that the license criteria of the SM-liiga will be completely re-evaluated. Similarly, the cooperation agreement between the SM league and the Ice Hockey League will be reviewed. The extraordinary general meeting that made the decisions consists of the SM league’s 15 owner clubs. Each club is represented at the meeting by the chairman of the board. The shareholders are responsible for the supreme authority of the SM league.
In the same context, it was decided that no new league license applications for the 2024–2025 season will be accepted during the review of the SM league license conditions.
Earlier, Kiekko-Espoo had said publicly that it would apply for a SM league license for the season in question this fall. According to the SM league’s press release, the matter has gone through in good spirit with Kiekko-Espoo.
– The shareholders’ solution is in no way a statement on the Kiekko-Espoo project. On the contrary, this should be seen as a decision where the same rules apply to everyone. Also the current clubs of the SM League, which have to redeem their league places every year by meeting the license requirements, the chairman of the SM League Heikki Hiltunen emphasizes in the announcement.
Kiekko-Espoo says in its press release that it will, however, continue preparations for filing the SM league license in October 2023. Kiekko-Espoo’s chairman Amy Rubinstein says in the announcement that the club’s goal is still to play SM league hockey in the fall of 2024.
According to Kiekko-Espoo, the SM league communicated to the club this week that promotion applications cannot necessarily be processed during the coming season.
– Of course, we hope that this decision is not final. We want to continue the constructive dialogue with the SM league so that we can still present our case during the coming season. Espoo belongs on the league map and this message will hopefully be transmitted stronger all the time, says Rubinstein.
According to the SM league’s press release, updating the cooperation agreement between the SM league and the Jääkieksliitto and re-evaluating the SM league’s shareholder agreement will be done during the 2023–2024 season.
– We have done purposeful work and during the process we clearly recognized that the license conditions require review. The world around us has changed significantly in recent years, and this is a key issue for the future of the series, says Hiltunen in the press release.
– In addition, in the first phase of the strategy work, we especially took into account how big our responsibility is for the long-term development of the SM league. We have thought about things extensively and openly, but we only want to make carefully thought-out solutions. That’s why the work is still going on. Any haste would be a mistake.