SUL demands an independent investigation into Mika Lehtimäki’s harassment case.
SUL is of the opinion that an independent investigation must be obtained in order to investigate Mika Lehtimäki’s harassment case. Jussi Eskola
The Finnish Sports Federation announced on Friday that it supported the Badminton Association’s proposal Mika Lehtimäki harassment scandal.
Earlier in the week, the Badminton Association sent a letter to the voting member federations of the Olympic Committee. It emphasized that the Board of the Olympic Committee could not itself request an inquiry into the case.
In practice, therefore, the Badminton Association proposes an extraordinary meeting of the Olympic Committee, after which a separate committee could commission an independent report on the harassment.
– SUL’s Board of Directors unanimously agreed that we need an independent report on the whole of Mika Lehtimäki’s case in order to assess the credibility and operational capacity of the Board of the Olympic Committee, SUL Chairman Sami Itani stated.
– From the sports federation’s point of view, it is essential that independent external investigations are carried out, but equally important to ensure good governance is that the power to commission investigations, speculate and evaluate results is outsourced to the Olympic Committee’s board.
– We hope for an extraordinary membership meeting as soon as possible, so that the entire Finnish sports community has the opportunity to move forward stronger and more united. I also see it as important for organizational democracy that we should not be the only major alliance to take a stand – one way or another – on the need for an extraordinary meeting, Itani continued.