Kari Väisänen spoke about the infamous doping news again in March.
Ilkka Kanerva photographed in 2021. Tiina Somerpuro
The late coalition politician Ilkka Kanerva was one of the sources of STT’s infamous doping news, reveals the news agency’s former editor-in-chief Kari Väisänen Länsiväylän by.
According to the newspaper, Väisänen told about it at an event of the Finnish Newspaper Association (SSL) in March. At the event, he opened up about his decision to publish a journalist Johanna Aatsalo news about skier Jari Räsänen’s doping in 1998.
Väisänen did not answer LV’s additional questions by phone after the event. He said he will tell more about the subject in his book to be published next year.
In addition to his political career, Ilkka Kanerva, who passed away in 2022, was also known as a sports influencer. For example, he served as vice-chairman of the Finnish Olympic Committee in 1993–2008. Kanerva publicly opposed doping.
Johanna Aatsalo and Kari Väisänen were convicted in the district court for defamation in 1999. No valid evidence was found for the news published by STT.
It later turned out that the allegations of doping were true, and in 2012 the Helsinki Court of Appeal convicted Jari Räsänen and the coach Pekka Vähäsöyring for gross fraud.
