The Ministry of Education and Culture cannot abolish the elite sports unit of the Olympic Committee. However, the ministry’s top official states that he does not consider the unit to have succeeded in its mission.
The debate about the state of Finnish elite sports after the medal-free Olympic Games in Paris took new turns on Thursday, when six famous sports influencers announced their own, radical program of measures to improve the dire state of affairs.
The group presented its program to top officials of the Ministry of Education and Culture, which finances more than 70% of the Olympic Committee’s activities, and the Minister of Sports To Sandra Bergqvist October 15th. The proposal contains many suggestions for improving the everyday life of athletes and coaches, but the strongest proposal was this: the group considers that The elite sports unit of the Olympic Committee is not the entity that could be relied upon to organize the rescue operations of Finland’s Olympic-style top sports.
In practice, the presentation considers that the unit in its current form should be run down and replaced by an impartial expert group to be established in the Ministry of Education and Culture, which would decide on the distribution of top sports money. The top sports unit has been operating for almost 12 years, and the fact is that during its existence, Finland’s success in the Olympic Games has waned.
Director-General of the Ministry responsible for physical activity and sports affairs Esko Beach belongs to the officials familiar with the measure proposal.
– It must be stated directly that the elite sports unit has not been successful, he admits.
Reports are awaited
Ranto states that the recent one is not a statement in favor of the model presented by the group of six.
– It is too early to take a position on that. Now the first thing is to get proper reports from the Olympic Committee about the finished Olympics. In addition to that, the Olympic Committee with to keep continue the discussion about why the action proposals made from the results of the external evaluation of our elite sports system have not been implemented.
The assessment in question was completed in 2022. The relationship between the officials of the Ministry and the leadership of the Olympic Committee has been strained in recent years, to say the least, even though the bodies have to constantly cooperate closely – or maybe that’s why. General manager Ranto states that the current situation is “businesslike”, but names one pain point when asked.
Clash with the Constitution
– In the spring, the idea arose within the Olympic Committee that the committee would start distributing state aid, i.e. perform the task of public authority. This would already collide with the constitutional consideration, and the endeavor was subsequently abandoned.
During this year, the Ministry of Education and Culture allocates about 166 million euros from budget funds to sports and exercise, of which the Olympic Committee’s share, including the money to enhance the elite sports unit, is about eight percent, which is very significant.
Six person – working life professor Sami Itanina professor by Karl-Erik Michelsendocent Kati Lehtonencoach Anu Nieminencoach Valentin Kononen and ex-sports director Jarmo Mäkelän – the proposal to centralize top sports expertise in the ministry is not new.
When the elite sports unit was founded in the early 2010s, the ministry and the elite sports research institute Kihu were options alongside the Olympic Committee. The latter was decided upon.
The working group hopes that its presentation will lead to a political decision, but the fact is that the Ministry of Education and Culture cannot directly order the association-shaped Olympic Committee to change its rules or structure, such as abolishing its own elite sports unit.
The autonomous association decides on such matters itself. Last year, a proposal was brought to the Olympic Committee’s board, in which the obligation to maintain an elite sports unit would have been removed from the Olympic Committee’s rules. The proposal did not receive the support of the majority of the government.
Out of all the possible people, the head of the unit at the time was the presenter at the meeting Matti Heikkinen; of course, the idea did not come from his incubator.
– Finland has a strong tradition of organized sports. The organizing route has received its backing from the political system, and now is the time to evaluate the results, says CEO Ranto.
The unit’s defense speech
After Matti Heikkinen, the Olympic Committee’s elite sports unit is led by Acting as a leader Jaana Tulla. He has familiarized himself with the working group’s presentation.
– Text by smart people and people who go public with their own names. All discussion about the development of Finnish elite sports is good. I completely agree with the authors that the interest of elite athletes and sports comes before everything else. Action always comes first, and structures must support action. The content of the presentation, for example, about the placement of top experts, is not entirely new, but this was already considered during the establishment of the unit. However, we ended up with this NGO model and not a politically led ministry.
Tulla defends the existence of the top sports unit proposed by the working group to be taken down. According to him, the sports network, such as sports federations, coaches and athletes are generally very satisfied with the unit’s expert work and everyday sparring.
– We are very happy to meet the members of this working group for a discussion and hear other openings for the promotion of Finnish top sports.