Viivi Lehikoinen criticizes Riikka Pakari of the Finnish Sports Federation through a press release. The chairman of the Yleuhurheilaijat ry has not heard about the lack of confidence, but wants clarification on the matter.
Hurdling star Viivi Lehikoinen strongly criticized the chairman of the Finnish Sports Association Riikka from Pakari.
The criticism stems from the uproar surrounding Lehikoinen when the news of his absence from the match against Sweden became public.
The Sweden match is defined in the agreement between SUL and representative level athletes as a competition in which the athletes must participate when they are healthy under the threat of a contract fine.
You can read more about the athlete contract and its content here.
SUL announced on Thursday that Lehikois will not be sanctioned for his absence. However, the association’s press release published a counter-statement from Lehikoinen signed by his manager, which expressed the athlete’s mistrust of Pakaris.
Lehikoinen announced the decision by email, which the union interpreted as a breach of contract
In his Thursday announcement the association said that the information about Lehikoinen’s absence from the match against Sweden came via e-mail as a unilateral notification. According to the union, this email alone would have met the hallmarks of a breach of contract.
However, according to SUL’s press release, it was not decided to issue a contractual fine, because a contractual fine “would not be a reasonable and proportionate sanction” for missing a national match due to participation in the Diamond League.
In his own press release, Lehikoinen emphasizes that no breach of contract has occurred because the parties reached an agreement on the matter.
Urheilu has seen the email that Lehikoinen’s manager sent to SUL’s management and coaching staff on August 16, i.e. three days before the start of the World Cup in Budapest.
In the e-mail, Lehikoinen’s manager says that the athlete has confirmed his participation in the Chinese competition of the Diamond League, and thus he will not participate in the Sweden match. The manager justifies the decision, among other things, by the fact that by participating in the Chinese competition, Lehikoinen could get to the Diamond League more easily in the future.
According to SUL’s press release, the union’s general manager Jani Tanskanen discussed the matter with the Lehikoinen representative after the email. After consideration, Tanskanen decided that Lehikoinen’s participation in the Diamond League makes sense.
Through his own press release, Lehikoinen criticized chairman Pakarinen’s way of talking about the contract in public without consulting the athlete.
“Can the athlete trust the president of the association in the future,” the announcement asks.
Pakarinen has nothing to add
Urheilu reached SUL’s chairman Riikka Pakarinen, who refused to be interviewed, but commented by e-mail that he has nothing more to add to the press release of the union’s board.
According to Pakarinen, Lehikoinen had no grounds to impose a sanction, so the decision was clear.
– For the sake of equal treatment of athletes, it is important that questions like this are addressed and the processes completed. Now this has been done, Pakarinen writes.
– From the point of view of the continuation, it is essential that the athlete contracts are updated in order to avoid problems like this. The work is done in close consultation with the athletes, he continues.
Yleuhurheilaijat ry: “We want clarification from the association”
In SUL’s press release on Thursday, the chairman of the Finnish Athletics Association, which represents athletes Topias Koukkula emphasized the importance of equal treatment of athletes.
Koukkula tells Urheilu that they have formed an overall view on the matter by discussing internally with both SUL and Lehikoinen’s representative.
They still need more clarification on the case from the union.
– At this stage, we primarily want clarification that the athlete will be able to trust the federation’s actors in the future and that in situations like this the federation’s word should be kept for the athlete.
Is the mistrust towards Riikka Pakaris wider?
– I have not personally received a message that there is a feeling of mistrust towards Riikka. We want clarification on whether the athletes can and are able to trust the union’s operative management and trust management, Koukkula answers.
According to Koukkula, it is important that the athletes’ voices are listened to when new contracts are made.
– We already received a request from the athletes in the summer that the contract should be reviewed again, he says.