These are issues that can be decisive for the future of the entire Norwegian skiing sport. The present consists otherwise in the fact that alpine star Lucas Braathen has entered into pure and open conflict with the Ski Association and its clothing sponsor, Helly Hansen. Braathen will not currently sign the annual cooperation agreement with the union until it is amended. Like ski star colleagues Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. The Ski Association, for its part, refuses to make such extensive changes to the agreement as they have been recommended to do by their own Law and Prosecution Committee (LPU). This is a committee consisting of three people chosen by the Skitinget, led by lawyer Andreas Ekker. This legislative committee, as it is colloquially called, formally only has an advisory function. But in reality, the legislative committee’s assessment of legislation and rules is followed, regardless of which association is involved. A breach of this will be seen as sensational. And despite extensive meetings in recent weeks, the parties are no closer to an agreement. In general, it is heading towards the warmest ski winter of all time. The use of fame It is difficult for everyone, including the parties, to understand what the conflict surrounding the national team agreements is really about. The only thing that is obvious is that it is important. And it’s about something called “image rights”. Immediately, a translation will give something close to “picture rights” in Norwegian, but the term encompasses more than that. It includes name, reputation, nickname, signature and indeed something as indefinable as fame. What can precisely be called an “image”. Without a better Norwegian word available. But the pictures are and will be the most important thing here. For who will be allowed to publish photos of the athletes. Where can they publish them. How many times can they be used. And not least for what. Put bluntly – and none of the parties will really acknowledge this – it is, of course, still mostly about money. NOT SIGNED: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is negotiating with the national cross-country team management regarding a representation agreement for the coming winter. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB A ski association under financial pressure wants to keep all the income they can to maintain current activity. The athletes, for their part, want to get the greatest possible financial gain out of a career of uncertain duration, among other things through greater control over their own profile building. These considerations must be balanced. It’s not always that simple. Because even though everyone talks nicely about the great community and the lauded Norwegian national team model, the road to get there is not always given. A few weeks before the start of the season, there is in any case remarkably little focus on the sporting expectations for the ordinary ski enthusiast. Much therefore revolves around market rights, national team agreements, legislative committees and the aforementioned image rights. Too much for some – including several of the other national team athletes. Critical colleagues The dissatisfaction among a number of performing colleagues with Lucas Braathen’s open provocation, through advertising for the Swedish clothing brand J. Lindeberg, both on the company’s and his own Instagram accounts, is significant, as news revealed last weekend. Many of the other athletes have obviously had enough of the conflict and want to focus on the upcoming season. And only that. Dissatisfaction with the attention given to the situation surrounding Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and his representation agreement is also becoming more and more obvious among the cross-country runners. Even an otherwise diplomatic runner like Simen Hegstad Krüger was surprisingly clear in his irritation at the situation, when the national team runners met the press last week. This is the agreement Klæbo must have with the association in order to go to the World Cup, after he chose to be outside the national team. But in the fight for rights, he and the two national team alpinists are united for the time being. Despite the steep fronts, it will still be a big surprise if Klæbo does not sign the agreement which means that the world’s best cross-country skier goes to the World Cup through the winter. In sponsored Norwegian national team clothing. The problematic exclusivity Lucas Braathen is on the Norwegian national team, subject to the Norwegian Skiing Association. The association has an agreement with the Norwegian clothing manufacturer Helly Hansen, worth tens of millions of kroner a year. Such agreements are based on exclusivity. The right of a sponsor to shine undisturbed. The Ski Association believes that it should be practiced in all industries. Which at the moment are many. This exclusivity is perceived by some practitioners as too extensive. If the Skiing Association has a sponsor within one industry area, whether it is a bank, car, aircraft, telecom, hotel or clothing, an athlete cannot enter into a separate agreement with a competing business in the same area. This is regulated in the aforementioned national team agreement, which you must sign when you are selected for the national team. Here, it is also defined what the Norwegian Skiing Association must contribute in terms of benefits, in the form of sporting offers, travel and support equipment – as well as counter-benefits, i.e. what the athlete must put up for in terms of commercial activities for the association and their sponsors. Including when to be photographed – and where they can be used. SPONSOR OBJECT: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is a favorite sponsor object. Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / news Here, for a number of years, athletes have wanted greater say in decision-making than what the Ski Association has wanted to give them. But no one has taken the ongoing conflict between the ski stars and the Ski Association as far into the public eye as Lucas Braathen. Braathen’s father, Bjørn, told VG that the association could blame itself, as they had not wanted to enter into desired negotiations with the athletes. The alpine national team’s sports manager, Claus Ryste, reacted strongly anyway and confirmed that the matter will be followed up internally. This means that Lucas Braathen must now be punished by his own association – and must be punished so that it is really felt, also externally. The last thing the Skiing Association needs now is more athletes who refuse to comply with the association’s own sponsorship agreements. For a party, not everyday But first, Braathen will probably go to Helly Hansen in a kind of canoe trip and apologize. Without that in any way resolving the underlying dispute with the union. The post with the clothes from J. Lindeberg has not been removed from Braathen’s own Instagram account either. National team colleague Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, for his part, advertises for the clothing giant Boss in his social media channels. Not only that, he has become such a big name that he shows their clothes on the catwalk in Milan. Only real stars do this. Those that are attractive to the most important sponsors. The German clothing brand sells exclusive party clothes, and is obviously defined as something that does not compete with Helly Hansen. Kilde, on the other hand, is not allowed to advertise another German brand, namely Puma. Kilde himself is currently silent about the conflict. Which is probably reasonable enough. MILAN: Kilde showed off in the clothes of Hugo Boss in Milan. Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP Massive resistance In practice, the conflict has lasted for several years. That is why Lucas Braathen and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and others did not want to sign a national team agreement last year either. The regulations then state that the last signed agreement, in this case from 2021, continues to apply. It still does. But the dissatisfaction with the situation and the process is so great that the athletes’ lawyer, Pål Kleven, last year asked for a statement from the Legislative Committee. And got support. Dissatisfaction with the union’s lack of reaction to this meant that the issue was again brought before the legislative committee this September. Again, the law committee gave its support to the athletes’ interpretation of the rules. A natural consequence of this would be that the Skiing Board, as a decision-making body, adopts a national team agreement which gives the athletes greater control over how their good name and appearance are used. And which sponsorship agreements they have the opportunity to enter into on an individual basis. But the opposition to this in the Ski Association, supported by hired legal assistance, is obviously intense. One thing is fundamental skepticism about the Legislative Committee’s understanding of the rules in this matter. Moreover, the fear of the possible consequences has made the Ski Board reluctant so far. The control of the income stream has been and is the entire basis for the Ski Association’s operation, including financing the scheme around the national teams as well as recruitment and cross-country sports. For a union which is both running at a significant loss and which has had a drop of 25 per cent in the number of members in the last six years, it is understandable that the reluctance to change practice is strong. COMMENTATOR: Jan Petter Saltvedt. Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / news Reluctance to change Nevertheless, the question is whether one must. The athletes themselves and their lawyer also argue that a more flexible arrangement, which safeguards to a greater extent the athletes’ control over their own image rights, can, on the other hand, increase the income potential, also for the association. But the reluctance to change is massive. This can lead to the very special situation that the management of the Norwegian Skiing Association refuses to follow the advice of its own Legislative Committee – and only offers the athletes an agreement similar to the one they already have. This will necessarily lead to a further escalation of the conflict – and also raise questions about the entire future role of the legislative committee. The next thing you know, however, is that sooner or later an agreement will be reached. In the long term, neither side has anything to gain from the situation continuing to be as unresolved and deadlocked as it is now. In the extreme, you can end up in court. As the Ski Association did in 2019. The opponent then was Henrik Kristoffersen. And many of the topics of contention were related to the current conflict. This time Kristoffersen is impressively silent. But no one will be surprised if he smiles slyly, observing the conflict from his base in Austria – the homeland of, among others, the virtuoso Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud and soft drink giant Red Bull. TOOK THE FIGHT: Henrik Kristoffersen has previously been in conflict with the union. Photo: AFP
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