In its appeal, TuTo considered that its league license application had been rejected on incorrect grounds.
With its decision issued today, the Sports Legal Protection Board has upheld the decision made by the ice hockey SM league’s license committee in December, by which TuTo was not granted a league license for the 2024–2025 season.
The league’s license committee had considered that TuTo had not met the criteria in the license regulations as prerequisites for granting a license with regard to eight conditions. These conditions had been related to the non-fulfillment of legal, financial, circumstantial and athletic criteria.
In its appeal, TuTo considered that its league license application had been rejected on incorrect grounds. TuTo also considered that the league license application process was not appropriate because the application criteria were unclear and TuTo was not treated equally in the application process compared to other applicants.
TuTo also considered that Liiga had misused its dominant market position by rejecting TuTo’s application.
– The board has certainly done a thorough job and stated that all aspects of our complaint have no basis, commented TuTo Hockey’s chairman of the board Tuomas Haanpää To .
– We disagreed and sought a third party’s opinion on the matter. Now that’s it, no worries and let’s move on. The matter has been finalized as far as TuTo is concerned.
The Judicial Security Board stated in its decision that it was not competent to investigate whether Jääkiekon SM-liiga Oy had misused its dominant market position in the Finnish hockey championship market. In this regard, the complaint was left unexamined.
The Judicial Security Committee further considered that the procedure for granting the league license had not been carried out in violation of the league license regulations.
The Judicial Security Board also considered that it had not been shown that TuTo would not have been treated equally in the decision-making regarding the granting of the league license. TuTo’s appeal was dismissed.
According to Tuomas Haanpää, TuTo has not buried dreams of entering the League.
– Whenever there is an opportunity to apply, we are definitely applying. Above all, now that it is possible to go there by playing.
Tuomas Haanpää’s comments added to the story at 17:18.