The women of the studio show it: Football is much more than a passionate hobby for men

In summer During the 2016 men’s football European Championship games, the glass ceiling was broken in Yle’s broadcasts when the coach Marianne Miettinen got an invitation to the newsroom. She had commented on the Helmarei’s games before, but a woman was not allowed in the holiest of holies.

After all, there was a lot of confusion, but mostly it rained praise, because of course Miettinen showed what was already known. He is sharp at analyzing the game and otherwise a good performer.

Miettinen himself commented on the matter at the time In an interview with Yle:

“I knew that I would be under observation in a different way than men. However, I’m used to the fact that I get to work so that the appreciation comes.”

In the same competitions, more women were seen in the studio as experts. It was already a custom in other Nordic countries, but not in Finland.

Eight a year later, women are again strongly involved in the picture, Miettinen too. It still doesn’t seem obvious, and you don’t see them in all games.

Now Miettinen steps into the competition studio already in a dusty state. He clearly enjoys performing, and for the viewers, that’s exactly the best thing. This is entertainment.

Along with Miettinen, he has been in his element Hanna Ruohomaa. Undoubtedly, he also knows that he is “under observation”, but he does not let it bother him.

For example, there was good energy in the studio discussion of the Croatia–Albania game, when Mehmet Hetemaj first got to open up the mutual bickering between the Balkan countries and Ruohomaa painted that “Croatia lives or dies with its midfield”. The leader of the discussion was Yle’s best atmosphere creator Riku Salminen.

Women’s presence refreshes studio discussions but not only because of equality. Any discussion is good when there are people from outside the box, so to speak. At the same time, the EM studio also shows the change of generation.

The change especially wakes up the male commentators of the older generation, so that they don’t sink into their ancient jargon, block diagrams (the graphics of which are really confusing, by the way), percentages or nostalgia, which they assume unites all viewers.

Even the language images are freshened up! When Marianne Miettinen says that Keskikenttä is hole cheese or Miika Nuutinen reminds me that England has the heaviest jersey in the world, so it’s clear even to such a viewer, who has to google what is wingback and still doesn’t understand.

Football is so much more than a male passion, and it is opening up to an ever larger audience. Futsal mothers have also colored in the bubble halls and may have noticed that the game can be exciting, even if there are little girls or boys on the field.

Of course, the fact that the popularity of women’s football is growing in Finland is also of great importance. It is both cause and effect.

From the boxes by the way: Even tired financial discussions would have a strange edge if there was someone who knows things from the point of view of an employee with mortgage debt, for example. A researcher could be allowed to get involved in politicians’ arguments, and not always so that they comment on things separately.