Basketball | This is how Henrik Dettmann connected the Lithuanians and the Seagulls: “It’s worth looking at a card like that”

It’s goodthat the backgrounds of the owners of the Lithuanian company that will become the new owners of the basketball club Helsinki Seagulls will be carefully checked, says Henrik Dettmann.

The Seagulls announced their new owners last week, some of whom have According to HS’s report connections to Russia. Dettmann, head of coaching at the Basketball Association, acted as a link between the Seagulls and the new owners.

Where did the whole project start and what does Dettmann think about the owners’ background connections?

Dettmann says that at the turn of the decade, he heard about the project of the Lithuanian Basketball Holding Company (BHC), in which the company founded the BC Wolves Vilnius basketball club and bought a basketball arena for it. The Finnish national team was in Vilnius, and Dettmann heard about it from the CEO of the Lithuanian Basketball Association.

Dettmann followed the Wolves project, and in August of last year he was contacted when Finland defeated Lithuania in Tampere.

“They (BHC) came to the conclusion that Finland could be an emerging basketball market through which they could expand their operations. The owners know that there is no market in Lithuania when Žalgiris has taken them over,” says Dettmann, referring to the status of the big Lithuanian club in the country.

Finland the basketball market is not very big. Despite this, the new owners announced that the Seagulls will continue to strive for success on European courts, even in the toughest, Euroleague.

The budgets of the teams playing in the Euroleague are in the tens of millions of euros. The Seagulls’ budget for this season is around one million euros. Dettmann does not want to take a direct stand on the goals stated by the new owners.

“It all depends on how many tickets you sell.”

Before the bigger arena, tickets are sold to a maximum of 1,500 spectators who can fit in Kisahalli. Last week, the Seagulls revealed their plans to move to Helsinki Hall, i.e. the former Hartwall Arena.

When asked about the owners’ connections to Russia, Dettmann says that everything is not as simple as it is presented now. He does not want to open the matter in more detail than this.

In addition to Russian connections, a Belgian who belongs to the new owners Bruno Venanzi was accused of fraud and money laundering in 2022. He was acquitted later after reaching an agreement with the prosecutor and paying 23,500 euros in compensation.

Dettmann says that he has not been so deep into the project that he is aware of all the details related to the background people.

Dettmann says that sports people have a lot of enthusiasm in the beginning, but also cynicism and caution.

“The world always disappoints. Maybe this will work for us too. If you don’t open the door, you don’t know what’s behind it. Businessmen’s caution has now been observed when opening the door.”

Dettmann says he is impressed with the background work Seagulls has done to find out the backgrounds of the new owners. He thinks it’s good that the topic aroused interest and that everything is being investigated.

“If sports investors show up here, it’s definitely worth at least looking at such a card. If you come across something that can’t stand the light of day, it’s not suitable for Finnish basketball.”

“It’s perfectly healthy to have all the hookers out in a project of this size. In the end, you have to make choices based on the facts. We have to make sure that we work with organizations and people who work for the good of basketball.”