Comment | The lack of a coach's license drove HJK to a dead end – only bad options ahead

Helsinki Football Club announced the next season's head coach in November with a bang. Made a quality mark at the club's helm Toni Korkeakunnas was not allowed to continue because the club management wanted to move to a new level.

Korkeakunnas was not a modern enough option for Club bosses. We needed a coach who could see into the future. HJK's new sports director Vesa Mäki found in Sweden Ferran Sibilan, who worked as a player development coach for Malmö FF in Sweden last season. Previously, he has worked, among other things, in Barnsley's coaching team in the Championship.

When appointing Sibilä, HJK admitted that the 35-year-old Spaniard has no experience as a head coach. HJK forgot to mention another important thing. The fact that Sibila does not have the qualifications to be the head coach of the Veikkausliiga.

According to the licensing regulations, a Uefa pro license is required for that, or alternatively, the head coach must complete the coaching course in question.

at HJK it was believed that Sibila will be able to start the Uefa pro training organized by the Swedish Football Association in February. However, this did not happen. Education manager of the Swedish Football Association Roger Sandberg said on Wednesday that Sibila is not among those selected for the course.

According to Sandberg, the selection was aimed at Swedish coaches who work in the local football community. The Spaniard coaching in Finland did not meet the criteria. Contrary to what HJK let us understand in November.

“Ferran is highly respected in Sweden, and I am very pleased that he chose HJK, even if there was demand for him in the Allsvenskan as well,” Mäki said glowingly about his discovery.

Because Sibila cannot perform the duties of the head coach, HJK is left with three bad options.

The first is the circumvention of licensing regulations and the second coach with a Uefa pro license Ossi Virran being formally named head coach. This could be successful if the license administration of the Finnish Football Association looked over the antics of the stadium players. This is unlikely to happen if the Veikkausliiga wants to present itself as a credible football league.

Another option is to agree on the matter with the management of Pallloiito in the sauna. After these “clarifications”, an announcement could be released to the public, according to which HJK and Sibila will be exempted from the qualification requirements. The reason given is that the Finnish Football Association will not start Uefa pro training until the end of 2024.

Palloliito and HJK are known to have warm relations, and the guy who lives in the same building on Urheilukatu is usually not left behind. If this ends up being the case, HJK would not be sanctioned for acquiring players in the winter transfer window.

HJK's management commented on the new situation after a long radio silence on Thursday afternoon with a short announcement. In it, the Club said it was “clear as day that HJK complies with the license regulations of the Veikkausliiga”. The club announced that it will provide the license committee with reports that meet the requirements by the deadline, i.e. next week.

For some reason, HJK's top management did not consider it appropriate to comment further on the matter, and did not answer the media's questions. If the striped shirts want to maintain the perception of a serious European football club, the club management should understand the importance of communication in building a credible brand.

HJK's third option is to look for a new head coach. That would mean shuffling the deck at the start of the training season. Mäki has had time to assemble the team according to Sibila's wishes. If the coaching responsibility were transferred to a new face, Mäki's house of cards would collapse.

At Turku Inter, Mäki saw from a close distance the sea rescue missions performed by Håkans' company, the company behind the club. Now Mäki has to dive into the frozen water himself.