Will Lindgren continue as Finland’s national team captain? The Swede wants more meat on his legs about the investment, the union’s answer: “The economic part is crucial”

Will the end of the EC qualifier be Ola Lindgren’s last matches as Finnish national team captain? The association wants to extend, Lindgren wants to know what the financial framework looks like.

Money often ends up in the center when Finnish handball is discussed. Or rather the lack of resources.

The question of Ola Lindgren’s future is no exception. The Swede’s contract expires in June and it is still unclear whether he will continue as the men’s national team’s national team captain.

– The financial part will be decisive, says the association’s operations manager Päivi Mitrunen to Yle Sporten.

There is no doubt that the handball association is happy to extend Lindgren. According to Mitrunen, the association and Lindgren have given proposals and counter-proposals. How it ends will become clear in May after the EC qualifiers are over.

– Ola has done a very good job and the players like him. We want to be patient and follow a more long-term plan.

Have enjoyed working with young people

How does Ola Lindgren think about his future in Finland?

He begins his answer by saying that the job in the national team has been fun. He has enjoyed working with young players together with assistant coach Teddy Nordling, putting his stamp on how Finnish national handball develops and that he sees value in the longer-term project to give the players better conditions in Finland.

In the end, he still lands on questions about the economy and how the association wants to invest in the national team’s activities.

– I need to find out what the financial conditions look like and how the business should be if we are not in the WC qualifiers. I haven’t heard exactly how it will be. The prerequisite is that we have a common ambition to become better. It must be the driving force of all parties.

At the end of last year, the confederation announced that they are taking cost-saving measures and in the cost-saving package, the men’s participation in the qualifiers for the WC 2025 was cancelled. During the confederation’s spring meeting last weekend, the decision was aired.

– People who were not at the autumn meeting raised the issue, but there were no major discussions. Around 100,000 euros are needed to play in the WC qualifiers and if that money does not suddenly come in, the men will not participate in the WC qualifiers, says Mitrunen.

Could be a long competition break

The men’s national team’s continued operations are not set in stone. A lot depends on how things go in the last matches of the EC qualifiers.

Finland faces Serbia at home and Norway away in its last two matches. The hypothetical chance for an EC place is alive, but then a sensational score is required in one of the matches.

A much more likely scenario is that Finland misses the EC, but avoids being one of the worst group four in the qualifiers. The victory over Slovakia in March will most likely give a place in the actual qualification for European Championship 2026 and that qualification will run in the autumn of next year.

In that case, there will be a break of almost a year and a half from competitive matches for Finland. According to Mitrunen, the idea is to play a four-nation tournament against the Baltic countries in January 2024.

– I understand that people are disappointed with the decision to skip the World Cup qualification, I am also disappointed. The European Championship qualification is most important right now and we are in the next European Championship qualification, says Mitrunen.

– Now that we have finished playing the ongoing EC qualifiers, we can start planning the collection we have in the autumn and what we can do then. The national team will have camps or matches during each national team window.

Not so keen on club teams

Ola Lindgren has been the Finnish national team captain since 2019. At that time he also had another coaching assignment as club team coach in Egypt.

He left Al Ahly in 2020 and has not been the head coach of a new club team since then.

– I have turned down most of what appeared on that front. Being a national team coach suits me well.

In addition to Finland, Lindgren has a couple of other handball-related jobs: expert in Swedish Viaplay’s television broadcasts and mentor to HF Karlskrona’s coach Mathias Ekstrand.

In spring, Karlskrona secured promotion to the Swedish handball league. In an interview with The evening paper earlier this year, Lindgren said that “his job is probably done if Karlskrona goes up”.

– I am satisfied with the workload I have had with several different assignments. Finland and Karlskrona have been a good combination. I don’t want to tie myself up as a club team coach. It takes a lot of time, and this solution has made piecing together the puzzle of life a little easier.

Thursday’s European Championship qualifying match between Finland and Serbia starts at 19.00 and will be broadcast on The arena.