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In Finland, Tens of thousands of boys and girls play and train in the colours of hundreds of clubs every week. In total, there are more than 130 000 registered football players in the country.
Finland's biggest junior football clubs recently published staggering figures on the positive impact of their junior activities on society. One of them stated that their social benefits were close to 40 million euros and the other one close to 30 million.
The calculations were carried out by a project under the auspices of UEFA, the European Football Association, and do not include the men's and women's teams. The model used by UEFA measures the social return on capital invested in football.
The figures provided by two of the biggest teams and UEFA's calculation methodology at the request of the club were examined. EFA has used the best expertise in Europe to make the calculations. Research institutes and universities have supported the methodology.
Funding junior football
In Finland, junior football is mostly funded by the state, but a large part of the clubs' activities is funded by parents and voluntary work. There is currently a debate on whether changes to gambling legislation could make it easier to obtain funding. In the future, parhaat kolikkopelit, as the Finns say, meaning casino games, could be an option for recreational activities. This would be done through sponsorship agreements.Casino companies, if only they were allowed to operate officially and tax-paying in the Finnish market, could also advertise more clearly. Then they could also support junior football with their activities.
Youth football fights disease
When assessing the activities of sports clubs and various organizations and associations, it would make more sense to look beyond the euro below the balance sheet line. This is because these figures show the overall impact of football on society, which is much greater than can be inferred from the financial statements.UEFA places particular emphasis on the health and social impact. Football is considered to contribute to school success, further education and employment, and to prevent crime and social exclusion.
On the health side, youth football helps to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and mental health problems, among other things.
Junior soccer involved in the everyday life of families
For many teams, the sport requires a certain level of commitment from the whole family, which significantly increases the number of people directly involved in football.These figures suggest that it is safe to say that youth football and sports clubs in general are an important part of local community life in Finland.
If the two biggest junior clubs generate a combined annual benefit to society of €65 million, could all the hundreds of football clubs in Finland be estimated to generate a combined benefit of at least €100 million?
Most likely yes, at least in terms of the wider social impact, that's probably the order of magnitude. Probably the total is even higher.
Calculating health, human and social impacts instead of financial statements is in fact such a good way of measuring things that it could be used in society at large, not just for sports clubs.
Also, if we are talking about social decision-making, it is precisely the task of the elected decision-makers in the councils and parliament and other bodies to make those value choices.
Of course, at some point you have to look at the money, but you have to be able to see the wider social impact, especially the long-term impact, when you make decisions.
