Imatran Ketterä to the Finnish Championship? This is the current situation with the Legal Safety Board’s complaint

The Finnish Super League season starts on September 1, but the fate of Imatra’s Ketterä is still open.

The Finnish Super League’s licensing committee rejected Ketterä’s license application in May, but Imatra did not accept the decision without chewing. On June 11, the club announced that it had exercised its right and appealed the decision to the Sports Legal Protection Board.

It is now August, but a final decision has still not been made.

“We are now expecting a decision this week,” says Ketterä’s CEO Carlo Grünn.

It may take even longer.

“We are talking about days or weeks. I cannot say for sure,” says the Board’s secretary Jukka Loiva.

Things are already getting hectic. There are only four weeks left until the start of the league season.

“We know that. No one has delayed, but it just takes time when big issues are being discussed,” Loiva says

In accordance with the administrative process, the Legal Security Board has been “hearing” the parties involved in the case one by one throughout the summer.

However, that is now over.

“The parties involved have now been informed that no further statements can be made,” Loiva says.

Next, Loiva is scheduled to present the case and the draft decision to the five-member Legal Security Board, which will then decide whether Ketterä should receive a Finnish Super League license or not.

Ketterä, the perennial champion of the Finnish Super League in recent years, finished second last season behind Jokerit and thus received the right to apply for a league license. Photo: Sami Kero / HS

If the Board finds that the Finnish Super League license committee rejected Ketterä’s application without grounds, there will be quite a mess.

Imatra is still ready to start the Finnish Super League season in four weeks.

“We have been preparing for it since May and are still preparing. Otherwise, the complaint would have been pointless,” Grünn underlines.

“Yes, we are serious about this. It is just a pity that the process has been a bit long.”

Ketterä joining the Finnish Super League as the 18th team would mean, for example, that the match schedule would have to be completely revised. The number of games each team would also jump from 64 to 68.

The Finnish Super League must also have an alternative match schedule ready in the box in case of Ketterä joining.

“Of course, we assume that it will be,” Grünn states.

According to the CEO, Ketterä is ready to jump into the main league on a very fast schedule.

“Since May, we have had two plans on the table, both the Mestis and the SM-liiga. When the time is right, one of them will be activated.”

If Ketterä’s appeal were to go through, there would probably be quite a buzz at the SM-liiga office just weeks before the start of the season. Photo: Kimmo Penttinen

With this information, the SM-liiga will have 17 teams in the upcoming season, of which Jokerit is the only new club.

At the end of the season, the last three will be relegated to the new B-liiga for the following season. The top 14 will form the A-liiga.

In May, the league’s licensing committee rejected Ketterä’s application due to, among other things, “implausible financial calculations,” overdue accounts payable, and payment defaults. The licensing committee also found that Ketterä would not be able to organize league-level matches.

Ketterä later published its response, in which it gave its own views on the rejection criteria and claimed that they were unfounded.