Football | HIFK ceases its operations – files for bankruptcy

Finland secondly, HIFK Fotboll Ab, which runs the activities of HIFK's representative team, which plays at the highest league level, will stop its operations.

The company says it will file a bankruptcy petition with the Helsinki District Court. At the same time, the club withdraws its license application to the First League, which had a deadline of January 15.

“The board of HIFK Fotboll Ab has stated in agreement with its largest owners that the company no longer has the conditions to continue its operations”, HIFK report.

HIFK says that it has been negotiating with foreign investors since last summer.

Negotiations with one interested buyer were continued until January, but an agreement was not reached in sufficient time.

HIFK Fotboll Ab's financial situation has been difficult for years. The club's operations have been saved from the brink of bankruptcy with the help of new ownership arrangements earlier in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

However, the operation has not been on a sufficiently stable basis.

The corona pandemic and other financial problems that have affected Finnish society in recent years were fatal for HIFK due to the club's weak financial basis.

The loss-making business was slowed down, but not stopped. Hundreds of thousands of euros in debt had accumulated from previous years.

In addition, the company's operations were burdened by the decision of the International Football Association Fifa on the 85,000 euro pain money Italian coach For Fabrizio Piccaretawho HIFK was hiring as a coach in spring 2022.

Instead of Piccareta, HIFK ended up Mixu Paatelainen. The Italian considered the club to have broken their promise and took the matter to Fifa. According to Fifa, the contract was valid, and HIFK was ordered to pay Piccareta.

In December, the club announced that the contract head coach Sami Okkonen ends with

This season, HIFK finished sixth in the First League.

HIFK The company's bankruptcy has no effect on the soccer activities run by Soccer rf. HIFK's men's representative team will play in the coming season in Kolmose under the association.

HIFK's women's representative team, HIFK's junior football and futsal will also continue to operate as normal under the association.

In the first league of HIFK the place is inherited by Käpylä Pallo, or KäPa, who was relegated from there at the end of the season.

Executive Director of KäPä Ile Rantanen says that he expected that the club might be allowed to keep its place in the league.

“I submitted the license application in time, because we were next in the supplement procedure. We have the papers in order and we are on the starting blocks”, says Rantanen.

In December, KäPä hired Okkonen, who left HIFK, as its head coach.

“Yeah. I knew what might happen. HIFK liked the information about the bankruptcy very much, when they didn't leak it to others,” says Rantanen.

He hopes that Finnish football will not see similar situations like now in the future.

“Like Sweden, we should have stress tests to monitor the finances of the clubs. We would avoid unpleasant situations. It's absurd to stretch solutions this far when there are people at work and you have to hire new players,” says Rantanen.

“We have 16-17 contracted players. They will get started when the first training game is in a couple of weeks. However, that number of players is not enough to play in the First Division.”