The war of words between the Veikkausliiga and the Premier Referees Club is intensifying.
Oliver Reitala (left) is the chairman of the Premier Referee Club. PDO
Iltalehti reached out to the chairman of the Premier Referee Club (Vek). Oliver Reitalan on Tuesday, just a few hours after Veikkausliiga’s CEO Timo Marjamaa had sent his announcement regarding the judges’ fee dispute.
Reitala did not want to express her opinion directly. He first wanted to negotiate the next move with the other referees.
– The negotiations continued so late that the statement will come on Wednesday morning, Reitala still messaged after midnight.
In the morning, he had forwarded Vek’s email, the tone of which was clearly more conciliatory than Marjamaa’s announcement.
– We still want to respect the spirit of the negotiations we hope for and for this reason we see no reason to reveal their more precise details publicly, it read.
– Our goal is primarily to find a solution acceptable to all parties as soon as possible.
A closer examination, however, revealed Veikkausliiga’s reasonably harsh negotiation tactics. According to the Premier Referee Club, the league has not wanted to come to the negotiating table in time, but always purposely leaves the agreement on fees right at the threshold of the football season.
– However, the negotiation strategy of the Football Association and the Veikkausliiga in recent years has been to delay the actual progress of the negotiations for as long as possible, so that matters have to be agreed on quickly before the start of the season.
This spring, Vek had to point out that the referees do not have a valid contract, after which the Balloliitto and Veikkausliiga “woke up” to the issue.
This happened on March 26, which is Thursday of last week.
– Even at this stage, the representative of the Veikkausliiga did not show any concern about obstruction and the possible delay of the start of the series. It is said that there is no need to come to the matches because refereeing is a voluntary activity.
The betting league is supposed to start next Saturday. At the moment, no referees have been named for the matches.
