– That has not been the case. I strongly reject that. This is how sports president Berit Kjøll answers news’s question about why the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) let a whistleblower solve tasks related to his own case. The sports association has received strong criticism for this. The sports president denies that it has happened, despite the fact that news has documentation that the whistleblower has actually solved tasks related to the case, which NIF is aware of. – Disturbingly, news has since Monday last week tried to get an answer as to whether she stands by this statement, whether she would have answered the same again, or whether she would have let the person in question solve the same tasks again. The sports president has not responded to that. Instead, she replies: – As stated at open hours on Friday 31 March, whistleblowers have not taken part in proceedings or handling of the whistleblower case. Varsler was at full time until 14 March and then carried out ordinary tasks. The case arose after an employee of the sports association filed a notice against a board member. The notice was submitted in December, and the case was considered closed on 31 March. Jan Hendrik Parmann, president of the Norwegian Basketball Association, is not impressed by the way Kjøll answers for himself. – If this is true, then this is disturbing, he says to news. NOT IMPRESSED: Jan Hendrik Parmann, president of the Norwegian Basketball Association. Photo: Brynjar MM Osgjerd / news – How do you think NIF has come out of this case? – If what is alleged here is true, then this is something that clearly weakens the confidence and power of our organisation, and I expect that both the Control Committee and the Selection Committee will take this whole matter properly forward to the Sports Council. – Extremely strange claim news has repeatedly, over a long period of time, tried to get concrete answers from the sports president in connection with this case. These questions have not been answered by news: Why did Kjøll answer “that has not been the case”. I strongly reject that”, when asked why NIF let the whistleblower work on tasks related to the whistleblowing case, considering that she was well aware that it had actually happened? Would she have answered the same again? And would she have let the person solve the same tasks again? news’s sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt reacts strongly to both the statement and the communication strategy. – This is an extremely strange claim from the sports president, when we have documentation that what she says is not true at all. Which is also documentation she necessarily has access to. This becomes even less confidence-inspiring when she actually repeats this, which most of all appears to be pure bluff, says Saltvedt. Photo: Martin Leigland / news Conflicting messages Star lawyer Jan Fougner, who helped the Norwegian Sports Confederation deal with the case, stood next to Kjøll during a press conference just before Easter that dealt with the notification case. She claimed that the lawyer was there on a voluntary basis. The topic was, among other things, the use of money in the much-discussed whistle-blowing case, and Kjøll had just explained that the case was closed, and that legal assistance had been stopped. – Today he doesn’t get paid, Kjøll answered news’s questions during the press session. Fougner himself gives the following answer to whether he actually worked for free: – My assignment ended on 31 March, Fougner himself writes in an e-mail to news. That is to say, the assignment for NIF lasted until the day Kjøll claimed that he did not get paid. Nor did the sports president mention anything about the fact that Fougner was not the only one from the law firm Wiersholm who assisted NIF that day. Watch the episode here: – What do you think about Kjøll saying during “open hours” that Fougner worked for free that day? – If it’s not right, then it’s obviously serious, says basketball president Parmann. Saltvedt particularly notices Fougner’s reaction in the interview, where he stands by Kjøll’s side. – Jan Fougner seemed so surprised by Kjøll’s answer, that I have to admit that I thought even then that this seemed most of all like a white lie. In retrospect, I have become more uncertain. Not on whether it was a lie, but more on how white it really was, says Saltvedt. Will not answer whether she was telling the truth Kjøll promised full transparency going forward. Nevertheless, she has not answered news’s question about why she said that Fougner did not get paid. Kjøll instead responds as follows: – It is absolutely correct as referred that legal assistance to the sports board ceased in connection with the conclusion of the case on Friday 31 March, the sports president replies in an e-mail. DUO: Kjøll would not be interviewed without Fougner by his side. At the same time, she claimed that he was there for free. Photo: Hanne Skjellum / news news has not received an answer to the follow-up questions about why when the sports president replied that Fougner worked for free that Friday, or whether it was actually true, despite the fact that the sports association has promised an answer for several days. Do you have any tips? Do you have information about this case? Get in touch with our sports political journalists. You can tip us off by e-mail or through news’s encrypted notification service. Here you can tip us anonymously. We treat all tips confidentially, in line with the Vær varsom poster’s rules on source protection.
ttn-69
– Disturbing – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
