Grants | Elise Gymnastics claims that the recovery of almost 100,000 euros is revenge – Helsinki denies

Helsinki the city disputes the claims of the gymnastics club Elise Gymnastics that the recovery of operating grants would be a disciplinary action Laura Ahonen for acting as the club's coaching manager.

In October, the city's sports department decided to recover from the club an operating subsidy of 98,591 euros for the year 2022. In its rectification claim, the gymnastics club hints that it is revenge.

According to the club, it becomes clear to anyone who reads the reasons for the decision that the sports division wanted to give Elise an additional punishment because the club did not take internal disciplinary measures against Aho.

Ahonen was sentenced to disciplinary punishment for violating the ethical principles of sport in the coaching activities of the Finnish rhythmic gymnastics national team.

“We are not punishing anyone, but we are of the opinion that the conditions of the grants, i.e. the criteria by which the grants are awarded, have not been followed”, Helsinki's director of sports Tarja Loikkanen says.

“Then we can propose that the grants be recovered, and now the sports division made the recovery decision.”

Elise Gymnastics' rectification request has been prepared by a deputy judge, an expert in sports law Olli Rauste.

In the demand, it is hinted that the sports department is “clearly dissatisfied” with the sanction that Ahonen has been given by the disciplinary committee of the Gymnastics Federation in the disciplinary process that lasted for about a year.

“In its own decision, the Sports Division clearly believes Yleisradio more than the decisions of sports' own disciplinary bodies,” Rauste writes.

Yle reported in November 2022that Ahonen, as the head coach of the rhythmic gymnastics national team, had acted improperly towards underage national team athletes for years.

At the same time, in the rectification request, it is understood that the sports division wanted a harsher punishment based on the claims of the “Finnish institution Yleisradio”.

It is problematic from the point of view of the Equality Act, it is considered in the correction request. Elise feels that the recovery decision was punitive based on the Yle article.

City annually grants grants to more than 300 sports clubs. The role as “some kind of supervising authority”, as Loikkanen expresses it, is easier said than done.

“We simply don't have any opportunities for that, and secondly, we want to trust that the clubs and organizations comply with the conditions of the grants, on the basis of which they have been granted those grants.”

The matter can also be turned the other way around. You can't let grievances slip through your fingers on the basis that you don't know about grievances that may exist elsewhere.

“If we find out, no matter how, it is our duty to go investigate the matter. Someone can contact us and sometimes we can be found [epäkohtia tietoon] through the media,” Loikkanen says.

“Many times it has happened that if there has been inappropriate behavior, sometimes even sexual harassment, the club has intervened immediately and acted in such a way that it no longer occurs in the club.”

In that case, the city will not collect the grant back, because the club has taken measures itself.

“

“If the conditions of the grants have not been complied with, then we have to collect the grants back.”

Sports department according to the gymnastics club's rectification claim, the decision is completely disproportionate. According to Rauste, such a harsh sanction violates the principle of proportionality of the administration.

In January of this year, the disciplinary committee of the gymnastics association gave Ahonen a warning or a warning, which is the lightest possible punishment.

The committee did not announce the exact penalty, but it considered Ahonen to have used an inappropriate expression in four individual situations. Straightforward comments were directed at the level of athletes and the abilities and character of certain individuals.

“Recovery of the entire year's operating grant is a completely disproportionate sanction to Laura Ahonen compared to the mildness of the disciplinary sanction imposed on Laura Ahonen for activities outside the club,” Rauste writes.

He claims that Yle's article led to “the collection of loose points and overreaction by political decision-makers”.

“I wouldn't really want to comment on the content of the rectification request until we receive the official prepared material, but there are many different parties looking for culprits,” says Loikkanen, referring to the written response being prepared.

Rectification claim will be considered by the culture and leisure committee next year.

“I hope it will be as soon as possible. We don't delay in responding to correction requests, but this is quite a complicated matter, so of course we carefully prepare its counterpart,” says Loikkanen.

“I would like to emphasize further that this is not about punishment. We do not hand out any punishments. If the conditions of the grants have not been complied with, then we have to collect the grants back. That's the city's policy in all grants.”