Kalervo Kummola

Kalervo Juhani Kummola (born 21 November 1945) is a Finnish ice hockey executive, businessman, and politician. He co-founded the hockey club Kiekko-67 at age 21, was later marketing director for HC Turun Palloseura, and chief executive officer of the SM-liiga. Becoming a board member of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1975, he was elected vice-president in 1990, and served as president from 1997 to 2016. He helped organize multiple World Championships hosted in Finland, was an International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) vice-president from 2003 to 2021, and chairman of the Finnish Olympic Committee from 2005 to 2016.

In business, Kummola co-founded the television production company VipVision, and was its chief executive officer from 1987 to 1999. He also served as chairman of the Tampere chamber of commerce, was the chief executive officer of the Tampere Hall entertainment and convention facility. In politics, he is a member of the National Coalition Party, was the member of the Parliament of Finland for Pirkanmaa from 1999 to 2003, served on the City Council of Tampere for 15 years, and was a member of the Pirkanmaa regional council, and served on the Finnish delegation to Nordic Council. He served as mayor of Tampere from May 2023 until June 2025.

Kummola was inducted into the builder categories of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996, and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023. He was the first hockey person awarded the Grand Cross of Merit for Finnish Sports Culture and Sport, and was given the honorary title of Consul General by the president of Finland. Other honors given to Kummola include the Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, the Medal of the President of the Slovak Republic, and the Golden Cross of the Finnish Olympic Committee.

Early life Kalervo Juhani Kummola was born on 21 November 1945, in Raisio, Finland, to parents Eino Viljam Kummola and Aili Johanna Lehto. He grew up in a Pentecostal family, and had one brother and two sisters. He played ice hockey as a youth, and described himself as a troublemaker in elementary school. and established a team for the Pentecostal church. He was elected president of Kiekko-67 at age 22, becoming the youngest ice hockey club president in Finland. He later worked as the marketing director for HC Turun Palloseura from 1971 to 1975,

Kummola became a board member of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1975, was elected its vice-president in 1990, and served as its president from 1997 to 2016, Kummola was one of the founding members of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979, sat on its board of directors for 33 years, and has been chairman of the inductee selection committee since 1986.

During his tenure with the association, he served as secretary general of the 1982 Ice Hockey World Championships held in Helsinki and Tampere; and was on the organizing committees of multiple Ice Hockey World Championships and IIHF World Junior Championship hosted in Finland. When the Finland national men's team won its first World Championships gold medal at the 1995 championships hosted in Sweden, Kummola called it his "great moment"; and recalled that "We had a Swedish coach, Curt Lindström, who I found in a nightclub in Munich in 1993".

One of Kummola's concerns as president was reducing the number of players leaving the country for Sweden, and felt it more of a priority than winning a World Championship. In the latter part of his presidency, he worked on preparations for the 2022 IIHF World Championship hosted in Tampere, which had last hosted the World Championships in 1965. Kummola was a driving force behind construction of the Nokia Arena in Tampere, which took 15 years of planning to build the venue.

International Ice Hockey Federation

Kummola was named the Finnish delegate to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 1976, and the IIHF council beginning in 1998.

The IIHF elected Kummola a vice-president in 2003. and was president of the international Champions Hockey League for the 2008–09 season. chairman of the co-ordination committee from 2013 to 2016, and chairman of the event and evaluation committee from 2016 to 2020.

Kummola retired as vice-president in 2021, serving his whole tenure under president René Fasel, who also retired in 2021. Kummola remained involved with the IIHF, named to the hall of fame and historical working group from 2021 to 2026.

Finnish national sports

Kummola was a member of the board of directors for the Finnish Olympic Committee from 1993 to 2005, then served as its chairman from 2005 to 2016. He was a member of the board of directors for the Pajulahti Sports Institute from 1994 to 2006, then served as its chairman from 2006 to 2014. He also served as chairman of the organizing committee for the Finnish Athletics Championships in 1996. Kummola thought it would be a craze for a few years, but it remained popular to his surprise.

Kummola served as chairman of the Tampere chamber of commerce from 1993 to 2017, was chairman of the Vierumäki Country Club from 2006 to 2017, and served as vice-chairman of the School of Art and Communication at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Anna-Kaisa Ikonen won the party's nomination and was later elected mayor.

Kummola was appointed mayor of Tampere on 15 May 2023, to complete the mayoral term vacated by Anna-Kaisa Ikonen who was elected to the Parliament of Finland. Serving until 31 May 2025, Kummola was also chairman of the city board. In his first speech as mayor, he sought a balanced budget to continue urban development, and stressed the need to take care of children, youth and the elderly, and have a comprehensive school network. Two new city council committees were established in 2023, for education, and culture and recreation. He felt that the Tampere light rail project and arena project were priorities, and the need to keep highly educated people in Tampere.

Running for a second term in the 2025 Finnish municipal elections, Kummola lost to Ilmari Nurminen. Kummola remained chairman of the city council when his term as mayor expired on 2 June 2025.

Personal life Kummola married Tuula Annikki Kuusela in 1969, and has two daughters.

Honors and legacy

Kummola has received multiple honors for his work in hockey. He was inducted into the builder category of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996, He was honored for his lifetime contributions to Finnish ice hockey, at the in January 2019. He was also named an honorary chairman of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.

In April 2016, Kummola was the first ice hockey person to be awarded the . The Tampere Chamber of Commerce named Kummola the economic influencer of the year for 2017. Other honors given to Kummola include the Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, the Golden Cross of the Finnish Olympic Committee, the Grand Cross of Merit, the Golden Medal of Merit of the City of Tampere, and the Golden Order of Merit of the National Coalition Party.

Kummola is known by the nickname "Rautakansleri" ("Iron Chancellor"), which was also the title of his biography co-authored with Jari Korkki in 2020. Kummola established the Kalervo Kummola Fund, to benefit low-income youth playing hockey in Finland. When his tenure ended as vice-president of the IIHF, the Finnish Broadcasting Company felt that Finland would lose influence in international hockey without his presence.