It was in the late winter of 2018, when Johaug was due to return after the 18-month ban from sports, that a new unknown drama started. It comes out in her autobiography “The whole story”, which was written by news journalist Anders Skjerdingstad and will be released this week. A sponsorship conflict meant that Johaug threatened not to return to the national team. – It is actually the only time I have really resigned properly, says Johaug to news and emphasizes that the threat to drop the national team was completely real. Was cursed The reason for Johaug’s threat was that Norgesgruppen, which owned her sponsor Asko, was about to lose its sponsorship agreement with the Ski Association to one of their competitors, the retail chain Coop. Johaug himself had collaborated with Asko throughout his career, and Johaug also had a close relationship with top manager Torbjørn Johannson. It had only become closer through the doping ban. But now Johaug’s agreement could be stopped, precisely because Coop and her sponsor were competitors. Therese Johaug met news before the book release of her autobiography. Photo: Nils Christian Mangelrød/news The special treatment Northug had, as Coop-sponsored, for five years outside the national team, was now to end. He had been allowed to bet outside the national team for five years. And Norgesgruppen, as the Ski Association’s sponsor, had stated that they accepted that a competitor sponsored Northug. Johaug reacted harshly to the fact that the Skiing Association was now on its way to scrapping a sponsor that had supported both her and the Skiing Association for a long time, especially through two doping cases in Norwegian cross-country skiing. – It was a rotten game as I felt it. This is just not how you do it with people who have supported you through the most difficult period that the Ski Association and in any case I had had. I was clear that either you go there or I go out and bet with Asko myself, says Johaug. In the book, Johaug also mentions how she got fired up in a meeting with Espen Bjervig, who became head of cross-country skiing that summer. Keeping the Asko agreement was an indisputable requirement if she was to be on the national team. Considered various solutions She thinks Coop realized that it would be negative for their agreement if she did not return to the national team and that there would be a lot of noise in the media. – We did not know that this was set as an ultimatum from Johaug and a premise for her to return after the ban, writes Coop’s communications director Bjørn Takle Friis to news. He points out, however, that they accepted a clause that Johaug, Marit Bjørgen and Birigit Skarstein would have their agreements maintained, if Coop became a new sponsor for the national team. They knew they had a close relationship with Johannson. In the end, however, Coop did not get the agreement with the Ski Association. Therese Johaug reacted to the fact that the Ski Association considered replacing one of its long-standing sponsors. It could have consequences for Johaug as well. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB cross-country manager Espen Bjervig writes in a message to news that in an early phase of the negotiations with Coop, they assessed whether it was possible that the athletes with Asko agreements could keep these. – Further on in the process, we experienced that it was wrong to manage Norwegian cross-country skiing based on special arrangements for individual athletes. This was also part of the overall assessment of the refusal by the Cross-Country Committee to enter into an agreement with Coop. He points out that input from, among other things, athletes was part of this process. – In all conversations with Therese, there was good and clear dialogue, and she dealt with the matter professionally, writes Bjervig. In the book, Johaug writes that it annoyed her that the association considered changing sponsors, even though she was to keep her Asko agreement. Therese Johaug together with cross-country manager Espen Bjervig after one of the gold medals during the Olympics in Beijing last winter. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB The solution was also that the Ski Association entered into a new agreement with the Norges group. Johaug says that she was clear along the way. – Some matches I take and some I don’t bother to take. But that match here was important to me, says Johaug. This was a matter that few people knew about. Johaug wanted to keep it internal. Threatened with cross-country refusal However, Johaug has also himself been threatened with being refused cross-country skiing by the Norwegian Ski Association earlier in his career. In 2012, she received a clear message from then general secretary Stein Opsal about this, if she did not shelve the investment in Johaug socks. The Ski Association’s clothing sponsor Swix also had the exclusive right to sell socks. Runners on the national team could therefore not start up competing businesses. Johaug reacted because Øystein Pettersen had launched a hat brand, and Kristin Størmer Steira had an agreement with Trimtex. Both were in competition with Swix. Johaug believes that they saw her investment in socks as more serious. Johaug in a picture from 2012. It was during this period that she was in conflict with the Skiing Association about investing in the Johaug sock. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Johaug then received what she describes as a thunderous speech from then general secretary Stein Opsal of the Ski Association in a meeting. She says that she also learned that she could leave the national team if she wanted to. – I was told that if I went for the Johaug sock, they could refuse me to go to competitions for Norway. And it was brutal to hear as a 22-year-old girl, says Johaug and adds: – I sat there and it just rained on. I sat there and studied. I felt very small, says Johaug. Stopped the venture Stein Opsal writes in an SMS to news that they had a longer process around the sock venture. In a meeting in which several from her team, Johaug and the Skiforbundet participated, they made it clear that they were forced to react if the plans were not changed. For the Ski Association, everything had sold the rights to an important sponsor. – This was the only meeting Therese herself participated in, and she was clearly not prepared for the seriousness of the matter, writes Opsal. Former general secretary of the Stein Opsal Ski Association Photo: Berit Roald / NTB scanpix He says that they recommended Johaug several times to enter into dialogue with the sponsor who had bought the rights, in order to find a good solution for everyone. The Johaug team sought legal help, but the union was unable to budge. When the focus on socks was stopped, the focus was instead on glove sales. It was a great success. – The most important thing for me was my career, and what I did on the ski slopes. We found out and made the Johaug glove, which was a huge success. It ended well, even if it was a bit bumpy at the start there, says Johaug.
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Johaug threatened to break with the national team – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
