The Ball Federation of Clubs project makes history of Finnish sports organisations
Finnish sports organisations have been in the headlines in recent years, and not only in a positive light. This year, public debate has focused on issues such as the recovery of public subsidies by the Olympic Committee and the Ski Federation's losses of almost €3 million. The umbrella organisation for Finland's most popular sport, football, the Palloliitto, has not escaped unscathed either: for example, last autumn the public was concerned about the different levels of remuneration for the men's and women's national teams.
Less attention has been paid to the organisational reform that has been in the pipeline for the past year, which bears the name of the Ball Union of Clubs. Nevertheless, it is one of the most significant reform projects in Finnish sport, and its effects will be felt by every football club and player throughout Finland. Blic has acted as an external consultant to the Football Association.
Why is the reform important? Why should anybody outside be interested in how the Football Association organises its activities? What matters is what the Ball Union of Clubs teaches about making difficult reforms at a time when it seems very difficult to do so in Finnish society. The crown jewel of the reforms is, of course, the social welfare system, which was started years ago basically because the current way of organising health care means that sooner or later we will either run out of money or the services will become miserable. Few would disagree with this, but that is where the consensus ends. It has been almost impossible to bring a project with a huge range of perspectives from different ideologies and with inevitably both winners and losers to the finish line.
The Ball Union of Clubs project has been the Ball Union's own mini-sote. It was launched because enough people admitted that the current model could no longer be continued. As it stands today, the Confederation is divided into 11 independent regional circuits and a central organisation: each with its own finances, staff and governing bodies. Although nominally part of the same umbrella organisation, in practice the activities between the districts and between the districts and the central organisation are hampered by distrust and self-interest. The implementation of a common strategy, cooperation, division of labour and allocation of resources is cumbersome. Decision-making and selection in the representative bodies is more likely to take place in small groups behind the scenes than in open debate. To the younger generation of club players, the Football Association and its circles have appeared to be an irredeemably old-fashioned organisation, rigid and focused on its own internal power game.
From this starting point, a thorough reform is far from easy, but that is how the November Council approved a reform proposal that has been years in the making. The districts and the central office are to be merged into a single service organisation, managed nationally but operating throughout Finland. The overlapping administration will be dismantled and the resources freed up will be redirected from the office to the field. The organisation of elected representatives will be simplified and its decision-making will move from closed ballots and list elections to the transparency required today.
Above all, the Clubs' Ball Union project is proof that fundamental reform is possible in a democratic, multi-interest organisation. Even painful decisions can be made without the hindrance of grassroots democracy, provided that there is an effort to establish a common factual basis for the current situation, broad participation of members, a willingness to engage in difficult discussions on many occasions, and a willingness to take the concerns of those critical of change seriously. The decision-makers of the Football Association have shown that they have the humility to put aside not only personal interests but also the grudges that have built up over the years - and to do the most significant sporting act for Finnish football in years, if not decades.
Tuomas Koivunen
The author is a consultant for Blic and has worked as an external project manager for the Clubs' Ball Union project.