– This is a dramatic situation. This means that the board sees no other way out than to ask for NOK 25 million. If not, we will be bankrupt from next Monday. This is what the chairman of Vipers Kristiansand, Peter Gitmark, says at a press conference on Tuesday. Vipers have been Norway’s supremely best handball team on the women’s side. The southerners have seven straight league and cup golds, in addition to having won the Champions League two years in a row. Now the club is warning that they need NOK 25 million in their account by Friday in order not to bankrupt themselves. Then the Vipers cannot afford to pay their own players and continue operations. The Vipers players will not be paid from Friday, and a spectacular rescue operation will not take place. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB – We see that the gap between income and expenses is increasing month by month. We are unable to get new income in the club. Too many of our friends and potential business partners are sitting on the fence looking at the situation, says Gitmark. He continues: – They are positive to contribute, but only if the club survives. There is no better way to kill the club than to sit on the fence, is the dramatic message. Hergeirsson: – Tragically Outgoing national team manager Thorir Hergeirsson, who rules over a large proportion of the Vipers’ players, tells news that he was not aware of how large the sums actually are. – I knew that Vipers have had strained finances and struggled to get things going in the last couple of years, but that … 25 million by Friday is huge sums. No, I didn’t think it was that bad, if that’s true. Thorir Hergeirsson in an interview with news on Tuesday. Photo: Fredrik Saltbones / news – If they have to withdraw from league games, the NM and the Champions League. What does it mean for Norwegian handball? – It is very tragic. I hope of course, it is possible to believe in Santa Claus, but I hope it is possible to save this so that this does not happen. I hope so for the longest time. Peter Gitmark at a press conference with Vipers on Tuesday. Photo: Hans Erik Weiby / news news’s handball expert Håvard Tvedten is also unimpressed by the club operation of the southern club. – It is completely beyond the pale that they are in a situation where they have to collect 25 million within three days. A more difficult situation is difficult to see that one can get into. – Is it possible to collect the money by Friday? – One can speculate whether it is possible for the sponsors and whether there is anyone who dares to put money into this when you have seen how it has been in recent years. But I have minimal faith that you can manage to raise such large amounts in such a short time, says Tvedten. – Now this amount is so large that it is no use for the players to call around to the sponsors and ask if they can pawn their bottles, he adds. news’s handball expert Håvard Tvedten. Photo: Frode Søreide / news All or nothing Chairman Gitmark says that they are completely dependent on external support to ensure continued existence. – If there are people who like the club, who like sport in Kristiansand and Southern Norway, who like Handball-Norway and who want to see a Norwegian club in the world elite – then you have to raise your hand. There was a large press conference in Kristiansand on Tuesday. Photo: Hans Erik Weiby / news He also says that the club will only continue if they receive the total sum of NOK 25 million. – It is entirely possible to say “I commit an amount”, and if you reach it, you are obliged to pay within a short time. If we do not reach the amount, it will not be collected. – Trust worn thin Gitmark admits that the club has not told the whole truth to the outside world. – Our trust as a club is worn thin. We have not communicated openly and honestly enough. We have not included important assumptions that we have seen missed in budgeting in the past. It has been one of my prerequisites as new chairman that everything we communicate as a club should be as open and honest as possible. In July, the club had to sell superstar Anna Vjakhireva, despite the fact that she herself did not want it. This summer, the Russian big player Anna Vjakhireva was sold to French Brest to save Viper’s finances. Photo: NTB – No one can be surprised by anything other than the insane amount here. The Vipers have been a continuous mess in recent years. And this is the sad result of many years of lack of responsibility in the management of what should be Norway’s pride, says news’s sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt. – Personal prestige and quarrels have been combined with hubris in the ambitions when it comes to player purchases and salaries at a level that only ends in one result, when no one was able to step in and take hold of the process, he continues. He has no faith that the club will manage the financial goal. – The fact that you have to raise NOK 25 million in three days is also completely unrealistic, unfortunately. Vipers have been Norway’s undisputed pride for many years. But when not even three Champions League triumphs in a row is a good enough basis for the stable and good operation of a top club, you have to think completely differently. news’s commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt describes the situation as “sad”. Photo: Henrik Myhr Nielsen / news Saved by local business Half a year ago, Vipers Kristiansand was placed in the red zone by the Norwegian Handball Association. The reason was negative equity. Around then, Gitmark took over as chairman. If he did not succeed in turning the economy around and securing positive equity, the club risked both being deducted points and relegation. Last winter, the club was saved by local business, which raised NOK 4 million. In addition, the players themselves collected approximately one million kroner. The municipality also reduced the rent of the hall in Aquarama by NOK 500,000. – If you have struggled to bring in 5 million over many weeks. What is the realism of bringing in 25 million in a few days? – This is a very difficult task. We are dependent on one or a small number of people and companies wanting to save Vipers, because they see the need for a top Norwegian club internationally. Because they see the value of Vipers in Kristiansand and Sørlandet. When we look into the future, we see a future where our income and expenses will be in balance. Chairman Peter Gitmark at the press conference in front of the trophy case. Vipers has been the country’s best handball club for the past seven years. Photo: NTB Despite the financial situation, the club has brought in several new players for next season. The biggest profile is national team goalkeeper Silje Solberg-Østhassel. – How have the players taken the message? – The players have been aware that we have a strained economy. But it is a challenging situation to hear that the club they are so fond of is about to come to an end. But I experienced a group of players who want to contribute, who will do everything in their power to preserve the club, says Gitmark. Published 15.10.2024, at 10.26 Updated 15.10.2024, at 11.38
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– Dramatic situation – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
