Andreas Mitter ends his job as head coach in Finland

Andreas Mitter will not continue working as head coach of the Finnish national team. The contract of the Austrian, which expires after this season, will not be extended.

"The main reason is the lack of money. I would like to build up and further develop a team, but this can't be done successfully with this budget", the 36-year-old, who started working in Finland 2016, told the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.

"After the modest success in the recent years, it is not possible to raise the budget without a risk. This risk needs to be assessed at this point", Mika Kulmala of the Finnish Ski Association is quoted on is.fi.

Antti Aalto is currently the top-ranked Finn in the overall World Cup as 47th. The best individual result this season was achieved by Eeto Nousiainen with his 25th place in Titisee-Neustadt (GER) last December. In the 2016/17 winter season, Jarkko Maatta and Janne Ahonen were the best Finnish athletes in the overall World Cup with a tied 50th place.

"My goals were a lot higher. There were many ups and downs and even though my work wasn't as successful as I had hoped, I don't regret these two years", said Andreas Mitter.

A successor for Andreas Mitter shall not be announced before the World Cup final in Planica. The Austrian will continue coaching the team until the end of this season.