The Finnish Workers' Sports Federation (, ''TUL'', , ''AIF'') is a Finnish amateur sports organization founded in 1919. In addition to the competitive sports, TUL focuses on youth activities and youth education as well as offering activities regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or financial means. TUL is one of the member associations of the

Finnish Olympic Committee The Finnish Olympic Committee (; ) is the national Olympic committee in Finland for the Olympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams, and raises funds to send Finnish competitors to Olympic events organised by the I ...

. TUL is affiliated with the

Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, usually referred to by the acronym SAK (; ) is the largest trade union confederation in Finland. Its member organisations have a total of more than one million members, which makes up about one fif ...

as well as the

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland ( , SDP, nicknamed: ''demarit'' in Finnish; , SD) is a social democratic political party in Finland. It is the third-largest party in the Parliament of Finland with a total of 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as ...

and Left Alliance. It is also a member of the International Labour Sports Federation (CSIT). TUL currently has more than 280,000 members, active in 1,000 clubs in 59 different sports.

History

Early years

After the 1918

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

, the Finnish Gymnastics and Sports Federation (SVUL) dismissed all clubs and athletes who had participated the war on the

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

side. On 26 January 1919, 56 labour movement related clubs founded the new workers' sports central association Finnish Workers' Sports Federation ''(Suomen Työväen Urheiluliitto, TUL)''. During the first year, a 78 newly established clubs joined the federation, and by the end of 1919, TUL had about 10,000 members. In the next decade, the number rose up to 450 clubs with approximately 35,000 individual members. The establishment of TUL led into a dispersion in the Finnish sports as there was no cooperation between TUL and SVUL. Both associations created their own practise and competition systems, the Finnish championship titles were decided by SVUL athletes as TUL had own championships. Also the Finland national teams were composed only of SVUL athletes. In 1920, TUL was a founding member of the

Socialist Workers' Sport International Socialist Workers' Sport International (, SASI) was an international socialist sporting organisation, based in Lucerne. It was founded in 1920, and consisted of six national federations (with a combined membership of about one million) at the tim ...

and later had also relations with the

Red Sport International The International Association of Red Sports and Gymnastics Associations, commonly known as Red Sport International (RSI) or Sportintern was a Comintern-supported international sports organization established in July 1921. The RSI was established i ...

. Instead of the ″bourgeoise″

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, the TUL athletes participated the Workers' Olympiads and the

Spartakiads The Spartakiad (or Spartakiade) was an international sports event that was sponsored by the Soviet Union. Five international Spartakiades were held from 1928 to 1937. Later Spartakiads were organized as national sport events of the Eastern Bloc ...

. In 1921, TUL sent a team to the Workers' Sports Festival in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and in September 1922, the

Finnish Workers' Sports Federation football team Finnish Workers' Sports Federation football team () was an association football team representing the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation (TUL) in 1921–1950. At the time, the sport in Finland was divided as the leftist TUL was isolated from the r ...

toured

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. This was also the first international contact for Soviet sports after the 1917

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

Anti-Communist suppression

Since the founding of TUL, the Social Democrats and

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

struggled for power inside the federation. Finally in 1927, the Social Democrats gained majority, and TUL denied all contacts with the Soviet led Red Sport International. Eighty clubs still sent athletes to the 1928 winter and summer Spartakiads in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. This ended up to the dismiss of 80 clubs in the fall of 1929, and the Communist-led clubs established a shortly-lived central organization '' Työläisurheilun Yhtenäisyyskomitea'' ''(The Unification Committee of the Labour Sports)'', launched in December 1929. At the same time,

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

reached foothold in the Finnish society. In 1930, the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

passed the anti-Communist laws, hundreds of organizations and newspapers that were considered as communist were banned. Among these organizations were 147 TUL member associations. For example, Finland's second largest sports club, Jyry Helsinki, was disbanded. The banned clubs were not able to re-organize until the end of World War II. Since 1932, TUL also lost its governmental grants for two years.

Period of cooperation

During the 1920s and the 1930s, more than 70 top athletes defected from the TUL clubs in order to compete in the Olympics. Between 1920 and 1936, 34 former TUL athletes participated the Olympic Games, 15 of them won a total of 23 medals. Since the early 1930s, 13 former TUL footballers were selected to the

Finland national football team The Finland national football team (, ) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team ...

. After the 1936

Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

, TUL and SVUL launched negotiations of cooperation as Helsinki was elected to host the

1940 Summer Olympics The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from 21 September to 6 October 1940, in Tokyo City, Japan, and later rescheduled for 20 July t ...

. Finally, in 1939 the parties signed a cooperation agreement. The TUL and SVUL athletes competed together for the first time in June 1939 as the TUL and Finnish Football Association teams played against each other at the

Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium (; ), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer ...

. The 1940 Summer Olympics were soon postponed due to the World War II, but TUL and SVUL continued their cooperation through the 1940s. In 1948, TUL athletes participated the Olympic Games for the first time, winning three medals, including one gold. The 37-year fragmented period finally came to an end in 1956, as the TUL and FA football series were merged.

Post-war years

In 1959, TUL split due to the internal dispute among the Social Democrats. The minority led by Emil Skog left the party, which also dispersed TUL. The Skog supporters formed the ''Työväen Urheiluseurojen Keskusliitto'' ''(The Central Organization of the Labour Sports Associations)'', which was active until 1979, although Emil Skog himself returned the party in 1964. The dispute also caused that TUL athlete were not send to the 1960 Olympics. Despite the cooperation, the political debates between TUL and SVUL survived even to the 1990s. The number of individual members in TUL peaked at 380,000 in the early 1980s. In 2001, TUL had 337,000 members.

Festivals and Sports academy

The ″Federation Festivals″ ''(Liittojuhlat)'' were launched in 1927 and have been arranged 12 times since. The largest festival with up to 36,000 participants was held in 1946. The TUL sports academy Kisakeskus was opened in

Raseborg Raseborg (; , ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern coast of the country. Raseborg is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Raseborg is approximately , while the Raseborg sub-region, sub-region has a popul ...

in 1958.

Chairmen

Eino Pekkala Eino Oskari Pekkala (29 November 1887 − 30 September 1956) was a Finnish lawyer and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland, representing the Socialist Electoral Organisation of Workers and Smallholders 1927–1930 and the Finn ...

1919–1927 * Väinö Mikkola 1927–1928 * Toivo Wilppula 1928–1937 * Urho Rinne 1937–1945 * Olavi Suvanto 1945–1951 *

Väinö Leskinen Väinö Olavi Leskinen (8 March 1917, in Helsinki – 8 March 1972, in Helsinki) was a Finnish politician, minister and a member of the parliament from Social Democratic Party of Finland. He is perceived as one of the major Finnish social democr ...

1951–1955 * Penna Tervo 1955–1956 * Pekka Martin 1956–1967 *

Olavi Saarinen Olavi Saarinen (18 October 1923, in Dragsfjärd – 30 November 1979) was a Finnish trade union activist and politician. He was at first a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland and, after 1959, of the Social Democratic Union of Workers ...

1967–1971 * Osmo Kaipainen 1971–1977 *

Matti Ahde Matti Allan Ahde (23 December 1945 – 20 December 2019) was a Finnish politician from the Social Democratic Party. Ahde was born in Oulu. He was a member of the parliament from 1970 to 1990, when he left to become CEO of the state monopoly Veik ...

1977–1995 * Kalevi Olin 1995–2007 *

Sirpa Paatero Sirpa Paatero (born 9 September 1964) is a Finnish politician of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, Social Democratic Party (SDP) who served as Minister of Local Government and Ownership Steering (Finland), Minister of Local Government in th ...

2007–2016 * Kimmo Suomi 2016–2019 * Lasse Mikkelsson 2019–

Olympic medalists

The following athletes represented a Finnish Workers' Sports Federation's member association while winning an Olympic medal. Due to political reasons, TUL did not send athletes to the Olympics in 1920–1936 and again in 1960.{{cite web, url=http://naskinen.blogspot.fi/2010/02/tuln-olympiamitalit.html, title=TUL:n olympiamitalit, author=Naskinen, Kari, work=Mustaa valkoisella, date=18 February 2010, language=fi, access-date=22 May 2015 ;Gold *

Tapio Rautavaara Kaj Tapio Rautavaara (8 March 1915 – 25 September 1979) was a Finnish singer (bass-baritone), athlete and film actor. Life Early years Tapio Rautavaara was born in the municipality of Pirkkala (now Nokia, Finland, Nokia), a suburb of the ...

(London 1948, javelin throw) *

Kelpo Gröndahl Kelpo Olavi Gröndahl (28 March 1920 – 2 August 1994) was a light-heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Finland. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics and won a silver and a gold medal, respectively. He won another silver medal at the ...

(Helsinki 1952, wrestling) * Marjut Lukkarinen (Albertville 1992, cross-country skiing) ;Silver *

(London 1948, wrestling) * Reima Virtanen (Munich 1972, boxing) *

Tapio Sipilä Tapio Olavi Sipilä (born November 26, 1958, in Kiiminki, Oulu), nicknamed Tapsa, is a former wrestler from Finland, who claimed the silver medal in the Men's Greco-Roman Lightweight Division (– 68 kg) at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los ...

(Los Angeles 1984, wrestling) * Marjut Lukkarinen (Albertville 1992, cross-country skiing) *

Ismo Falck Ismo Kalevi Falck (born 22 August 1966) is a Finnish former archer who participated in two consecutive Olympic competitions, starting in 1988. He won the silver medal in the Men's Team Competition in 1992 ( Barcelona, Spain) alongside Tomi Po ...

(Barcelona 1992, men's team archery) *

Jani Sievinen Jani Nikanor Sievinen (; born 31 March 1974) is a former medley swimming, medley swimmer from Finland, who won the silver medal in the Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre individual medley, 200 m individual medley at th ...

(Atlanta 1996, swimming) ;Bronze *

Reino Kangasmäki Reino Kalervo Kangasmäki (2 July 1916 – 26 September 2010) was a journalist and a Greco-Roman wrestler from Finland. He won a bronze medal in the flyweight class at the 1948 Olympics, his only major international tournament. At the national ch ...

(London 1948, wrestling) *

Paavo Aaltonen Paavo Johannes Aaltonen (11 December 1919 – 9 September 1962) was a Finnish artistic gymnast and a three-time Olympic champion. At the 1948 Summer Olympics, he won four medals, of which three were gold, including a three-way tie for gold i ...

Kaino Lempinen Kaino Johannes Lempinen (8 February 1921 – 13 September 2003) was a Finnish gymnast who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsin ...

Kalevi Viskari Kalevi Viskari (15 June 1928 – 13 November 2018) was a Finnish gymnast who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were ...

(Helsinki 1952, men's team all-around gymnastics) * Toivo Salonen (Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956, speed skating) * Voitto Hellstén (Melbourne 1956, 400 metres) * Jorma Valkama (Melbourne 1956, long jump) *

Taisto Kangasniemi Taisto Ilmari Kangasniemi (2 April 1924 – 31 October 1997) was a Finnish heavyweight wrestler. He competed in Greco-Roman and freestyle events at the 1948, 1952, 1952 and 1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as To ...

(Melbourne 1956, wrestling) *

Kalevi Suoniemi Kalevi Ensio Suoniemi (14 July 1931 – 17 June 2010) was a Finnish gymnast. He competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a team bronze medal. His best individual result was ninth place on the pommel horse. S ...

Martti Mansikka Martti Mansikka (25 October 1933 – 24 February 2024) was a Finnish gymnast. He competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a team bronze medal. His best individual result was tenth place on floor. His team pl ...

(Melbourne 1956, men's team all-around gymnastics) *

Hannu Rantakari Hannu Juhani Rantakari (8 January 1939 – 1 January 2018) was a Finnish gymnast. He competed at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a bronze medal in the vault in 1964. His best individual result in other ...

(Tokyo 1964, gymnastics) *

(Seoul 1988, wrestling)

References

External links

Finnish Workers' Sports Federation Official Homepage
Workers Sports Federation 1919 establishments in Finland Sports organizations established in 1919