Last Friday, it was confirmed that Espoon Honka, which finished fifth in the Veikkausliiga season, will not apply for a league license for next season.
On Wednesday, it became clear that Honka will not apply for a license to either the First League or the First Division.
The reason is the financial problems of Esport Honka oy, which ran Honga’s representative team and the academy team that played in Kakkose. The club has not been able to pay its last season’s team salaries for the rest of the season.
On Thursday, Esport Honka oy filed a bankruptcy petition with the district court of Länsi-Uusimaa. The matter is confirmed by the development and communications director of Esport companies Kurt Moller.
“This is nothing new”
The members of last season’s team have to apply for their salaries from salary security. Möller says that according to his understanding, the team has the opportunity for an accelerated salary security procedure, where the salaries will come within two weeks after the bankruptcy liquidator has given information about the situation.
According to Möller, the reasons for drifting into bankruptcy are the following.
– We have been waiting for the stadium for a long time. But it drags on and on and can’t wait any longer.
– Then we have had two player deals, which were tried until the last, but did not reach the finish line. Then there was the opportunity to play in Europe. That would have been a financial opportunity, but that didn’t happen either.
Honka missed out on a European place when it lost to Ilves in the final of the Finnish Cup and to VPS in the European finals after the Veikkausliiga season. On the other hand, Honka played in the Conference League qualifiers last summer, when the away game trip to Kazakhstan caused a big expense.
In Honga, therefore, we drifted to rely on income that was not yet certain.
– Then no other sensible operating model or possibilities for continuation were found. This year the budget has been drastically exceeded. The player budget has been greatly exceeded by more than 500,000 euros. We have had excessive travel expenses. The world situation has been and still is very difficult. Interest rate increases, inflation, all the stars in a bad position, Möller laments.
However, Möller reminds us that the problems are a long-term continuum.
– Esport Honka oy has been making losses for a very long time. They have only been acknowledged. This is nothing new.
Möller complains that “the camel’s back in waiting for the stadium has been broken”. According to him, the city of Espoo’s estimate for the completion of the stadium planned for Tapiola is now 2027.
– It’s a long time to finance. And even that (year 2027) is only “maybe”.
A new stadium has been planned and demanded in Espoo for 15 years already. At the same time, Honka has played in front of the “tube stands” in the Tapiola sports park, which has made it difficult for him to do business.
The main owner, businessman, who stood at the cornerstone of Honga’s economy Färid Ainedt told In an interview with Länsiväylä, that he no longer continues to offset Honga’s losses. He said the biggest reason was the delay of the stadium project and that he didn’t want to wait any longer for “the financial operating conditions to be fixed”.
Esport Honka oy has managed the operations of Honga’s representative team since 2015. Except for one season, the company has made losses from hundreds of thousands to 1.5 million euros.
The goal continues in Kakkones
The Honka representative team and the academy team have been managed by Esport Honka oy, which filed for bankruptcy, but the league spots have been owned by FC Honka ry.
FC Honka ry published on Thursday bulletinin which it criticized the limited company’s operations:
– The situation regarding the personnel and players of Esport Honka oy. is very unfortunate and difficult, when salaries are still unpaid and people have had to endure uncertainty. The way things have been handled on the side of Esport Honka oy does not correspond to FC Honka ry’s values and operating methods. In this situation, we would like to emphasize that FC Honka ry’s operations are based on transparency, good communication and respect for people, as well as good governance and responsibility.
Also Honga’s captain, who finished his career last season Henri Aalto previously harshly criticized the club’s communication. The financial problems came as a surprise to the players when there was no salary.
In its press release, Honka ry says that it will take over the men’s Honka Academy playing from Kakko and P17 Academy, which operated under Esport Honka oy.
Honga’s goal is that next season Honga’s new representative team would play in the men’s Second Division, i.e. fourth at the highest league level.
It has been discussed in public, is this also possible, because Esport Honka oy also managed the academy team last season. Will Esport’s debts belonging to the Academy remain to be paid by Honka ry or a new owner?
Executive director of FC Honka ry Petri Harainen is of the opinion that the debts will not go to their account.
– We have a different view on this. The competition regulations of the Swedish Football Association state what happens with regard to debts related to the league position if the company goes bankrupt. Then they will not target the association, if it takes over the series places.
So you hope that you will be able to continue in Kakkonis with a clean slate?
– According to the competition regulations of the Football Association, it is completely possible to act like this.
According to Harainen, the association will take over the running of the club’s operations and the management of the league venues “in an acute situation”, but at the same time it will start to find out the future limited company model for running top sports activities.