After weeks of wrangling, the Finnish football association (Suomen Palloliito) ruled that Honka players Duarte Tammilehto and Tapio Heikkilä were legitimately allowed to walk away from their contracts with the Espoo club on the grounds that they weren't paid for two months, and bonuses were witheld. The club was in financial trouble, and were in danger of missing out on a license to compete in the Veikkausliiga (and Europa League) in 2013.
Why always me? Former Honka captain Heikkilä
The SPL's ruling was thorough, quoting legislation, EU rulings and competition regulations. But they need this ruling to be bulletproof - the situation of unpaid/deferred wages is repeated all over the major European leagues. In Britain alone in 2012, Portsmouth, Hearts and Rangers have had to defer player wages. Rangers players left the club en masse when the club was liquidated, but that was different - Honka remain, despite questions over whether they should have been granted a license.
The short arm of the law - former Honka midfielder Tammilehto
Honka are about to embark on a European campaign, with their first Suomen Cup in tow. But without these two players, and striker Tim Väyrynen is currently training with Dutch Eredivisie side Heracles, it's hard to see how they can keep pace in 2013. They will struggle to advertise themselves as good employers after this, and only a European campaign could tempt players to Espoo.
Meanwhile, two promising young players are free agents. Heikkilä is rumoured to be interested in moving to KuPS, while Tammilehto is close to signing with TPS. Honka have seven days to appeal the ruling.
It wouldn't be Finnish football without some kind of legal wrangling prior to the start of a season...
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