Football Association of Finland

Football Association of Finland
UEFA
Founded19 May 1907; 117 years ago (19 May 1907)
HeadquartersBolt Arena
FIFA affiliation1908
UEFA affiliation1954
PresidentAri Lahti
Websitehttps://www.palloliitto.fi/

The Football Association of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Palloliitto, abbr. SPL; Swedish: Finlands Bollförbund) is the governing body of football and futsal in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907.

The SPL organises the men's and women's national football teams, and the second to ninth tiers of national football. The premier division Veikkausliiga is organized by a distinct organisation. The SPL is based in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki.

Background

The SPL has more than 1,000 member clubs and approximately 140,000 registered players. The Finnish Gallup survey has indicated that football is a popular pastime with around 500,000 Finns interested in the sport. The SPL is Finland's largest amateur sports federation.[1]

The association was also the governing body of bandy in Finland until Finland's Bandy Association was founded in 1972. In 1928, it also arranged the first Finland ice hockey championship, before the 1929 establishment of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.[2]

Publications

The association publishes several magazines, including now-defunct monthly magazine Futari.[3]

National teams

Presidents

Commemorative plaque in Esplanadi, Helsinki where was Football Association of Finland founded. (Finnish, Swedish and English)

References

  1. ^ "Palloliitto" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Archived from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  2. ^ "Idrott" (in Swedish). Uppslagsverket Finland. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. ^ "A-lehdet Dialogi Oy". Aikakaus Media (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
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