Football The coaching situation of Helsinki IFK, which was relegated from the Veikkausliiga, has been resolved. Company publicly a two-year contract on Tuesday Sami Okkosen with.

Okkonen, 35, represented IFK in three different league levels during his playing career for a total of seven seasons. He returns to the stars from the position of head coach of Joensuu Jipo.

“Feelings at the moment are mixed. Above all, I feel happy that I was confirmed at HIFK”, Okkonen said in the press release.

“I am excited that we can now build next season and with it a new start at IFK. It’s a pleasure to be back home. The decision to leave Joensuu behind after only one year was extremely difficult and in many ways painful, although from my point of view it was the only right one.”

Size Okkonen, who represented Helsinki clubs during his playing career, played 139 official matches in IFK, where he scored 60 goals. He was the national team’s top scorer in four seasons.

The most recent of the goals came on October 4, 2014. It sealed IFK’s return to the Veikkausliiga once and for all. However, Okkonen did not have time to experience the main league as a player, as his career ended with an injury the following spring.

After his playing career, Okkonen graduated from the University of Jyväskylä with a bachelor’s degree in sports science, majoring in coaching and testing theory. The studies of the master’s phase are currently nearing the end, as well as the completion of the Uefa A coaching license.

Okkonen will follow as head coach of IFK Mix Paatelist, whose time at the club ended at the same time as relegation from the Veikkausliiga was confirmed once and for all. In the last two matches of the fall, IFK was piloted by a member of the coaching team Teemu Kankkunen.

In addition to Kankunen and Paatelainen, IFK coach was seen last season Bernardo Tavares, who left the team citing family reasons already after the first Veikkausliiga game. A week later, the Portuguese pilot had already signed a contract with Indonesia.