The Skiing Association, which is in financial problems, had to pay the medal bonuses of last season by the end of May. Many successful people are still waiting for their money. The union promises to take care of the matter.
Last season’s ski comet, in the army at Winter Sports School Niko Anttola, 20, recently received mail from the Finnish Ski Association. In the shell was a bill of one thousand euros from the youth World Championship trip to Whistler, Canada, last winter. The athletes received a deductible of that amount from the trip. Skier’s coach father Marko Anttola says that the invoice was paid immediately.
However, Anttola also had to receive information from the Skiing Federation regarding both the youth and adult World Championships. He won an individual gold and silver medal in the youth games and was part of Finland’s 4×10 kilometer relay quartet in the adult games in Planica, which won silver. Anttola’s sensational anchor part was the Finnish highlight of the Games.
Anttola’s bonus for the World Championship silver medal was a quarter of 5,000 euros, i.e. 1,250 euros; the magnitude of the medal bonuses for the youth World Cup medals was a generous 1,000 euros.
For a young athlete, such sums are very important, unlike, for example, for someone who finished second in the World Championships Ivo For the neck. He said that he has not checked whether the World Cup bonuses have been paid. Threefold Perttu Hyvärinen said that he last checked the situation in June, and at least then the bonuses had not been paid.
Athletes can choose whether to take the bonuses as taxable income or to a coaching fund, from which the bonuses can be used tax-free against receipts from sports expenses.
Executive Director of the Ski Association Ismo Hämäläinen admits to Urheilu that, for example, Niko Anttola has not received his money. He is sorry about the situation.
– According to the athlete contract between the ski association and the athletes, the previous winter’s bonuses must be paid by the end of May, so of course this should not happen. It’s not that the union’s coffers don’t have such sums of money, commented the union’s executive director.
The Ski Federation reported this week about extensive layoffs and reductions in operations. In the financial year ending, the association will make losses of hundreds of thousands of euros.
Hämäläinen started to figure out the bonus issue after Urheilu asked about it.
– I was aware that the bonuses would have remained unpaid to only one athlete, but the matter concerns several people. We are now working to fix this as quickly as possible. The union’s financial desk has understandably been full lately, but this issue should have come up in the order of march earlier.