The Finnish Sports Confederation wants to apply for the right to organize the 2030 European Championships. The last time the EC medals for adults were competed for in Helsinki eleven years ago.
At the weekend, the athletics nation enjoyed the rain of Finnish medals at the under-23 European Championships in Espoo. Now Urheiluliito is smoldering with the idea of returning the prestigious adult competitions to the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.
The decision to apply has not yet been made, but the sights are on the 2030 European Championships.
– There have been discussions about this. As chairman, I strongly support this idea myself, chairman of the Sports Association Riikka Pakarinen tells Urheilu.
The European Athletics Championships are held every two years. The next three competition cities are Rome, Birmingham and Chorzow. According to Pakarinen, the decision on the 2030 race organizer will be made within two years.
– In order to officially decide to go for the games, many criteria must be met. We need to get a strong group of partners behind us and other partners to be involved, Pakarinen says.
The last time the EC medals in athletics were contested in Finland was in the summer of 2012. loss of 3.6 million euros. The Ministry of Education and Culture saved the association from its worst predicament with extra grants.
– We are not going to take big risks at this point. All boundary conditions must be met. The European Championship 2012 was a bad example. There were many factors that caused the big losses. We can’t afford that, Pakarinen says.
It has not been easy for Urheiluliito financially recently either. The previous fiscal year went into the red by 120,000 euros, even though SUL organized a usually profitable match against Sweden at the Olympic Stadium last summer. Pakarinen assures that financially, the union is doing well now.
– If you compare the finances of different sports federations, our finances are completely balanced. Last year, we consciously made a small minus sign, investing capital in our operations, which we still have. In that sense, we can be safe. Of course, you have to be careful in the future as well.
The 2012 European Championships were hampered by the London Olympics held in the same summer, due to which many big names missed the European Championships. In 2030, no other value competitions will be organized.
– I could see that applying for the Games is a big opportunity for Finnish sports as a whole. The starting point must be that if you go for the games and organize them, you will also make a profit, Pakarinen says.
In total, the adult EC and World Championships have been contested in Helsinki five times. The European Championships for under-20s will be held in Tampere in two years.