Savings | A “cold ride” is in store – Sports money is threatened by a blunt cutter

Finland CEO of the Olympic Committee Taina Susiluoto warns the sports organization field about tough times.

Prime minister Petteri Orpon (kok) government program threatens to cut tens of millions of euros from the combined state grants for sports and exercise.

During the government’s term, all government subsidies for culture, sports and youth work of the Ministry of Education and Culture will be cut by a total of 125 million euros.

The cuts hit the last two years of the reign hard.

“We are entering a world where cutting is done step by step,” says Susiluoto.

Next year, grants distributed by the state will decrease by around ten million euros. Of this, the share of sports and exercise is probably about six million euros.

In 2025, the cutter will hit even deeper, and the last two years of Orpo’s reign will be heavy in terms of state subsidies for sports.

“So we have two years to build a model that will allow us to take on the cold ride that is expected towards the end of the government term,” says Susiluoto.

Executive director of the Floorball Association Pekka Ilmivalta suggested on Tuesday, that sports organizations should start thinking about eliminating duplication before it has to be done in the face of necessity.

According to Ilmivalta, sports organizations do overlapping work in, for example, financial and personnel management, procurement, information systems, as well as club development and coaching.

“I can say that there are enough overlaps in Finnish sports,” Ilmivalta summed up.

Wolf credit is happy about the opening of Ilmivalta, and the fact that sports organizations are thinking on their own initiative about how to prepare for difficult times.

According to Susiluoto, drastic cuts have been the result since the parties rejected the parliamentary agreement on the predictability and preservation of sports money.

In the opinion of llmivalta, promoting cooperation between sports federations would suit the Olympic Committee, which is basically a neutral party and the only factor that unites sports organizations.

According to Susiluoto, the Olympic Committee has already encouraged sports federations to consider how the organizations could find common benefits and savings at the same time.

He reminds that sports associations are already doing things together. The Olympic Committee’s role as caretaker of common issues has also strengthened over the past ten years.

“As the only central organization for physical activity and sports, the Olympic Committee has a special responsibility to ensure that the sports community is able to take on tougher financial times,” says Susiluoto.

It is certain that the government’s austerity measures mean bad decisions for sports organizations.

“Inevitably, this means that change negotiations are known.”