Sports in Finland

What sports are played in Finland?

The broadest countable list is the membership of the Finnish Olympic Committee. Its English page states: “We have 90 full members, 26 associate members, and four individual members.”^[8] The Swedish page gives the same figures as 90 ordinary members, 26 cooperation members and four personal members.^[9] The Finnish member page sets the admission test for full members: “Olympiakomitean varsinaisiksi jäseniksi voidaan hyväksyä valtakunnalliset rekisteröidyt aatteelliset yhdistykset, joiden toiminnan pääasiallisena tarkoituksena on liikunnan, huippu-urheilun tai muun urheilun edistäminen.” It adds: “Kutakin urheilulajia voi edustaa järjestössä vain yksi lajiliitto.”^[7]

That member page names the full members one by one. They include Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto (ice hockey), Suomen Palloliitto (football), Suomen Urheiluliitto (athletics), Suomen Hiihtoliitto (skiing), Suomen Pesäpalloliitto (pesäpallo), Suomen Salibandyliitto (floorball), Suomen Jääpalloliitto (bandy), Suomen Koripalloliitto (basketball), Suomen Lentopalloliitto (volleyball), Suomen Painiliitto (wrestling), Suomen Suunnistusliitto (orienteering), Suomen Kyykkäliitto (kyykkä) and AKK-Motorsport. They also include bodies that are not single-sport federations: Finlands Svenska Idrott, the Swedish-language umbrella; Suomen Paralympiakomitea; Opiskelijoiden Liikuntaliitto, the student sports federation; and Suomen Työväen Urheiluliitto.^[7]

What is the most popular spectator sport in Finland?

The measured proxy retrieved here is television audience. Finnpanel, which measures television viewing and radio listening in Finland, lists the most-watched programmes of 2025 from its TV-mittaritutkimus (television meter survey). The only sport broadcast in that year's top ten was the IIHF World Championship game between Finland and Sweden, with 1,106,000 viewers, given as 20 per cent of the population aged three and over. The list is headed by Linnan juhlat, with 2,366,000.^[20] Finnpanel's release on the year dates the game to 12 May and places it on “MTV3, Urheilu 1”.^[36] That is one broadcast's reading, not a season average.

Other proxies point to other sports. Suomen Pesäpalloliitto writes: “Kansallislajimme pesäpallo on Koko Kansan Peli”, calling pesäpallo our national sport and the whole nation's game.^[22] That is the federation's description of its own sport, not a measured figure. No audited season-total attendance figure for any Finnish league could be retrieved from a league's own site.

How is sport organised in Finland?

The statute. Section 17 of the Constitution provides: “Suomen kansalliskielet ovat suomi ja ruotsi.”^[18] The Sports Act is Liikuntalaki 390/2015, in Swedish Idrottslag, given on 10 April 2015. Section 18(1) of the original text provides “Tämä laki tulee voimaan 1 päivänä toukokuuta 2015”, and section 18(2) repeals the Sports Act of 1998 (1054/1998).^[13] The consolidated Finnish text read here is Finlex's open-data edition. Section 1 begins: “Tässä laissa säädetään liikunnan ja huippu-urheilun edistämisestä sekä valtionhallinnon ja kunnan vastuusta ja yhteistyöstä, valtion hallintoelimistä ja valtionrahoituksesta liikunnan toimialalla.”^[12]

Section 12 governs grants to sports organisations. It opens “Valtion talousarvioon otetaan vuosittain määräraha liikuntaa edistävien järjestöjen toiminnan avustamiseen”, that is, an appropriation in the state budget each year. A new organisation receives no grant without special reason until it has operated as a registered association for at least two years.^[12] Section 10 sets eligibility for state aid and provides that only one national federation per sport may be approved for grants.^[13]

Two later Acts bear on the text in force on 24 September 2026. Act 318/2023 provides: “Tällä lailla kumotaan liikuntalain (390/2015) 16 §, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 1301/2016”, and it came into force on 1 January 2024.^[14] As given in 2015, section 16 provided that grants under the Act were paid “ensisijaisesti veikkauksen ja raha-arpajaisten voittovaroista”.^[13] The consolidated text of 27 June 2025 prints in its place: “16 § on kumottu L:lla 3.3.2023/318”.^[12] Act 618/2025, given on 27 June 2025 and in force from 1 January 2026, amended section 4(2), section 7(1) and sections 9 and 15. Section 4(2) now provides: “Liikunnan alueellisesti hoidettavista valtionhallinnon tehtävistä vastaa Lupa- ja valvontavirasto.”^[15]

Gambling. A new Gambling Act, Rahapelilaki 10/2026, was given on 16 January 2026. Section 2(1) provides that games may be run only by a person “jolle on myönnetty tämän lain nojalla yksinoikeustoimilupa tai rahapelitoimilupa”, that is, one holding an exclusive or a gambling licence under the Act.^[16] The Ministry of the Interior states that “Parliament adopted the new Gambling Act and the related acts on 16 December 2025” and that the President approved them on 16 January 2026. It gives 1 March 2026 as the date from which companies can apply to the National Police Board for licences, and 1 July 2027 as the date from which licensed gambling services can begin, and states that Veikkaus Oy will have a monopoly on providing gambling services until the end of June 2027. On the build date, the licensed market had not opened.^[17]

The committee. The Finnish register of associations records Suomen Olympiakomitea ry, Finlands Olympiska Kommitté rf, under business ID 0202238-5 in Helsinki. It gives the bilingual name from 21 July 2016 and a registration date of 13 March 1956. It lists two earlier names, Suomen Olympiayhdistys ry, dated 8 March 1956, and Suomen Olympiakomitea ry, dated 31 May 2004.^[6] The committee's own Olympic history page states that “Suomi perusti Olympiakomitean 2.12.1907”.^[34] The committee's pages describe it as serving its member organisations and the Finnish sports community, and state that it is funded by state grants and its own revenue.^[9][10] The national federations are members of this same registered association, which is also the Olympic committee.^[7] Olympedia records that the Olympic Committee of Finland was awarded the Olympic Cup in 1941.^[1] No IOC recognition date was retrieved from a primary source.

The merger. Yle reported on 20 June 2016: “Urheilujärjestö Valo sulautuu Suomen Olympiakomiteaan vuoden 2017 alusta”. It added that extraordinary meetings of the bodies had decided this, and that “Valon toiminta lopetetaan ja sen vastuut ja varat siirtyvät OK:lle.” Valo ry, the report states, had been founded in 2012 by Suomen liikunta ja urheilu, Nuori Suomi and Suomen kuntaliikuntaliitto.^[11] That date rests on this single news report. A 2023 edition of the committee's statutes, on the materials host its own site links to, returned an error when requested. The register entry retrieved carries no merger entry.^[10][6]

What are the main domestic leagues and competitions?

In ice hockey, the specialist site Jatkoaika lists Liiga, Mestis, the women's Auroraliiga and the national teams in its navigation.^[31] Liiga's own statistics pages load only with scripts, so no attendance or table figure from them is given.

In pesäpallo, the federation's site links to a separate Superpesis site. That site carries a section for the Itä–Länsi game, East against West, at Vimpeli, with teams for 2026.^[22][33] The federation's history page records that “Ensimmäisen pesäpallon Suomen mestaruuden voitti Helsingin Pallonlyöjät” in 1922.^[21]

In football, UEFA records the Football Association of Finland as founded in 1907, a FIFA member from 1908 and a UEFA member from 1954.^[23] Veikkausliiga's own site refused retrieval, so no league detail is given here.

In floorball, Suomen Salibandyliitto links from its own pages to F-liiga, to an F-liiga strategy and to SSBL Salibandy Oy, which it lists with F-liiga in brackets.^[32] In school sport, Koululiikuntaliitto runs national championships (SM-kilpailut) in several sports.^[27]

How has Finland performed at the Olympic Games?

Olympedia's narrative records that Finland first competed at the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens and appeared two years later at the 1908 London Olympics. It gives Finland's first Olympic Winter Games appearance as Chamonix 1924, noting two skaters entered in the 1920 figure skating events. It states that Finland has since missed no Olympic Games and no Olympic Winter Games.^[1]

Olympedia prints no totals row. Its Olympic Games medals-by-sport table sums to 149 gold, 152 silver and 190 bronze. The medals-by-Games table sums to the same figures.^[1] By season, the Summer rows sum to 104 gold, 86 silver and 120 bronze. The Olympic Winter Games rows sum to 45 gold, 66 silver and 70 bronze.^[1] These sums are arithmetic on Olympedia's rows, not figures Olympedia prints.

Two typing questions affect those figures. First, Olympedia types 1906 as “Intercalated Games”, listed apart from the Summer Olympics in its list of editions.^[2] Finland's 1906 row is 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze, in wrestling and athletics, and is not in the figures above. Second, the per-sport table carries three art-competition rows: literature, 2 gold; architecture, 1 gold and 1 bronze; music, 1 silver. The figures above include them.^[1]

Olympedia's narrative gives the Winter record as 175 medals and 45 gold, or 176 and 46 if the 1920 figure skating events are included. The Winter rows of its table sum to 181 medals, six more than that figure, and include a 2026 Winter row of 0 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze. The figures here follow the table.^[1] By sport, the athletics row is 48 gold, 36 silver and 30 bronze. Wrestling is 26, 28 and 29, and cross-country skiing 22, 27 and 38.^[1]

Olympedia types Youth Olympic Games medal rows separately, for 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2024. They are not Olympic Games and are not in any figure above.^[1]

Which athletes and teams are internationally recognised?

At the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Olympedia records Finland's men's ice hockey team as gold medallists and the women's team as bronze medallists.^[5] Olympedia records Iivo Niskanen as winner of the men's 15 kilometres cross-country skiing at the same Games.^[5]

The IIHF records that Finland won the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, beating Canada 4–3 in overtime in the final on 29 May 2022.^[24]

In basketball, FIBA's final standings for EuroBasket 2025, played from 27 August to 14 September 2025, place Finland fourth.^[25] In football, UEFA records that Finland qualified for UEFA EURO 2020, which it calls the men's team's “first-ever major men's international tournament”.^[23]

What major international competitions has Finland hosted?

1952. Olympedia records that the IOC chose Helsinki at its 41st Session in Stockholm on 21 June 1947, with 15 votes on the second round of voting. The Games opened on 19 July and closed on 3 August 1952, with competition from 14 July. Olympedia gives 4,932 athletes from 69 countries.^[4]

1940: awarded, not held. Olympedia records that the Games of the XIIth Olympiad were awarded to Tokyo at the 36th IOC Session in Berlin on 31 July 1936, by 36 votes to 27 over Helsinki. Tokyo withdrew on 16 July 1938. The Games were officially awarded to Helsinki on 3 September 1938, at an IOC Executive Board meeting in Brussels. They were scheduled for 20 July to 4 August 1940. After the Soviet attack of 30 November 1939, the Finns formally declared their inability to host on 23 April 1940. Olympedia records that De Baillet-Latour officially cancelled the Games on 2 May 1940.^[3]

Other championships. The IIHF lists the 2022 World Championship from 13 to 29 May 2022, with games at Helsinki Ice Hall and Nokia Arena.^[24] UEFA lists Finland as host of the UEFA European Women's Championship finals in 2009 and the UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals in 2018.^[23] Suomen Urheiluliitto staged the Finland–Sweden athletics international at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 29–30 August 2026.^[28]

Åland. The International Island Games Association lists Aland among its member islands. It lists Island Games held in the Aland Islands in 1991 and at Aland in 2009.^[19]

What are Finland's main sporting rivalries?

A documented, named, recurring fixture is the athletics international with Sweden. The Suomi–Ruotsi-maaottelu, known in Finland as the Ruotsi-ottelu, is organised on the Finnish side by Suomen Urheiluliitto. Its site placed the 2026 edition at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 29–30 August 2026.^[28] Suomen Urheiluliitto reported on 30 August 2026 the men's match as “Suomi 227–Ruotsi 225” and the women's as “Suomi 222–Ruotsi 230”.^[29] Yle reported the same scores the same day.^[30] No all-time series record from the federation could be retrieved, so none is given.

In ice hockey, the Finland–Sweden game of 12 May at the 2025 IIHF World Championship was Finnpanel's fifth-most-watched programme of 2025, at 1,106,000 viewers.^[20][36] That is an audience reading, not a head-to-head record. No federation's own head-to-head count against Sweden or Norway in any sport was retrieved.

Pesäpallo has a named domestic fixture of its own: the Superpesis site carries a section for the Itä–Länsi game, East against West, at Vimpeli.^[33]

What is the role of school and university sport?

School championships are run by Koululiikuntaliitto. On its athletics page, it describes “Koululiikuntaliiton yleisurheilun suomenmestaruuskilpailut koululaisille”. These are held in May, in the N/M19, N/M17, T/P15 and T/P13 classes.^[26]

On 17 December 2025 the federation wrote: “Koululiikuntaliiton valtakunnalliset SM-kilpailut syntyvät yhteistyössä seurojen, kuntien ja koulujen kanssa, kisajärjestäjähaku on vuosittain lokakuussa.” It listed events for 2026: street running in spring, athletics championships in Alavus in late May, and orienteering championships at Ruka on 28–29 August.^[27]

At tertiary level, Opiskelijoiden Liikuntaliitto, the student sports federation, is a full member of the Finnish Olympic Committee.^[7] Section 2 of the Sports Act, as substituted by Act 144/2023 from 15 February 2023, names nine aims the Act is to promote. The fourth is “lasten ja nuorten kasvua ja kehitystä”, the growth and development of children and young people.^[12]

Pesäpallo's own history links the game to schools. Suomen Pesäpalloliitto writes: “Samoin pesäpallosta tuli suosittu koulupeli”, that pesäpallo likewise became a popular school game.^[21]

Were any sports invented in Finland?

The claim a Finnish body makes is for pesäpallo, and on the federation's account it is a development of an existing game. Suomen Pesäpalloliitto's history page states: “Vuonna 1915 Pihkala esitteli pitkäpallon, joka oli eräänlainen muunnos kuningaspallosta”. Lauri “Tahko” Pihkala is the developer it names. The page adds that “Siihen antoivat vaikutteensa myös Euroopassa suositut lapta Venäjällä, långboll Ruotsissa ja Schlagball Saksassa”. It records that Pihkala travelled to the United States and became acquainted with baseball.^[21]

The same page dates the game's present form: “Ensimmäinen nykymuotoisen pesäpallon koeottelu pelattiin Helsingissä Kaisaniemen kentällä 14.11.1920.” It adds that the name pitkäpallo was finally changed to pesäpallo in 1922.^[21] The federation states that it was founded in 1931.^[22]

A declared national sport is a separate question. The federation calls pesäpallo “Kansallislajimme”, our national sport.^[22] None of the section headings of the Sports Act concerns a national sport, and no statute declaring one was found.^[12] A heritage listing is a third question. The Finnish Heritage Agency's wiki inventory of living heritage marks its pesäpallo entry “Mukana kansallisessa luettelossa”, on the national inventory.^[35]