– It is the sum total of actions that are not acceptable, and this is not compatible with our values, says Kolbjørn Ertzeid. He is managing director of Brandsdal Group, which owns Bli Vakker. Bli Vakker has now decided to end the collaboration with the handball club Vipers Kristiansand, and will not extend the sponsorship agreement which expires in May. The background is the noise surrounding sales and marketing manager Christer Paulsen in Vipers, who wrote harassing comments on Facebook and lied about being hacked. – Leit Ertzeid says that they had a meeting with the general manager and chairman of Vipers on Wednesday. – We understand that it is a demanding situation for them, but have decided not to extend the agreement. He points out that he thinks it’s a shame, and that before the incident they were in dialogue about extending the agreement. – We have had a long and good collaboration with Vipers, and the profiling we have received from the club has been very valuable to us. So we would like to see that we could continue this. Vipers were informed of the decision yesterday. Kolbjørn Ertzeid in Bli Vakker says Christer Paulsen’s behavior has been unacceptable, and not compatible with further cooperation with the club. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news Opposing player called “fat” It was after the semi-final in the Norwegian championship between Byåsen and Vipers Kristiansand earlier in March, that sarcastic comments appeared. In a thread between Paulsen and event manager Aleksander Kristiansen, several players are commented on. In addition, the referees get the smooth team, and an opponent is referred to as “fat”. Paulsen claimed that his profile had been hacked and said that it was not he who had written the comments. Only after almost a week, he admitted the lie. – It is unacceptable behavior in relation to colleagues, opponents and coaches. We can all make mistakes, but to stand in that lie until one is forced to reluctantly admit it. Then it becomes so unacceptable that it is something we believe is not compatible with what we want to profile ourselves with, Ertzeid elaborates. – Would it have looked different if Paulsen had been fired? – We cannot get involved in how the club handles personnel matters. But then at least we would have seen that there was a stronger reaction from them. The general manager of Vipers, Per Geir Løvstad, writes in an SMS to news that they think it is sad that Bli Vakker is ending the collaboration. – We are happy to have had Bli Vakker as a sponsor for many years and hope that we can work together again at a later date, says Løvstad. The club has no further comment on the matter. I think more will follow. This week it became known that the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions has frozen the agreement they have with Vipers. Næringsforeningen, which represents the business community in the Kristiansand region, is not a sponsor that spits money into Vipers, but has a partnership agreement with the club. DNB, which is Vipers’ main sponsor, has also reacted after the row. This week they came up with demands that the club make a plan with concrete measures to prevent bullying and that the club improve attitude work, as well as internal routines. – We will follow this up closely with clear deadlines for implementation and assess the way forward based on the measures Vipers puts forward, said marketing director Aina Lemoen Lunde in DNB to news on Wednesday. Marketing director at DNB, Aina Lemoen Lunde, has set a number of demands that must be met if they are to continue as the main sponsor for Vipers. Photo: Stig B. Fiksdal / DNB Ertzeid in Brandsdal Group believes several sponsors are now considering whether to continue their collaboration with the club. – I think there are probably more people who count the buttons, and think like us. So there may soon be more. – Only losers Bli Vakker is one of the bigger sponsors of Vipers, and has had a long collaboration with the club. Ertzeid thinks it is sad that it is now over. – There are only losers here. We would very much like to avoid this, but it’s a lose-lose situation anyway. However, he does not rule out cooperation in the future. – We have not closed the door for good, but we have to assess what happens in the future – if the situation changes so much that we can enter into a new agreement with them. When asked if they are now considering cooperation with other clubs, he replies: – It could be, but in that case it is completely independent of this matter here. It’s not something we’ve talked about until now. – Vipers are a Christian team. It is the world’s best handball team and they have a profile that we think has been very good. They are pink, as we are, so it has been a very good match in many areas. It is not easy to find such a good match again.
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Ending collaboration with Vipers after harassing comments – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
