Finnish champions to buy city rivals

HELSINKI, March 5 (Reuters) - Finnish Veikkausliiga champions HJK Helsinki have agreed to buy FC Jokerit with the aim of turning their city rivals into a nursery team that would play in the first division.

The deal ends the foray into football by Finnish sports mogul Harry Harkimo, whose high-spending ways had turned Jokerit into a force in the country's SM-liiga ice hockey league.

'We expected that at least some of Jokerit's hockey supporters would start to follow the football team games, but it did not go that way,' Harkimo was quoted as saying on the web site of the Veikkausliiga.

HJK said in a statement that once approval for the move was received from league officials Jokerit - who finished 10th in the Veikkausliiga last season - would be renamed HJK Academy.

The deal will also mean Jokerit's stake in downtown Helsinki's Finnair stadium shifts to HJK. No financial details were given.

The Veikkausliiga, Finland's top flight division, said FC Jokerit's junior team operations would be taken over by another Helsinki-area team, AC Allianssi.

KooTeePee Kotka, relegated to the first division last season after losing to RoPS Rovaniemi in a play-off, would probably regain its spot in the Veikkausliiga, it added.

Jokerit were formed in 1999 when Harkimo bought Helsinki side PK-35. They won the Finnish Cup in their inaugural season and finished second in the league in 2000.

But the team struggled after that, being relegated the following season.