– I cannot remain anonymous. I have to take the magazine out of my mouth and demand answers. The words come from Marco Elsafadi, board member of the sports board led by Berit Kjøll. He is one of the main characters in the much-discussed whistle-blowing case in the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF), and now he chooses to come forward. He was the one who was notified. In this interview, the former basketball profile talks about: Distrust of sports president Berit Kjøll What he describes as repeated untruths from the sports president The need for a cleanup after the whistle-blowing case What he believes is a divisive leadership style But first he wants to emphasize that he holds no grudge against the person in the administration who chose to serve a notice against him in December last year. Elsafadi says, on the contrary, that the person should and should be protected, and he is looking forward to the two working together again. – She should leave immediately There was a situation in December that led to the employee delivering a notice against Elsafadi. The content of the notice must have been reactions to what the whistleblower perceived as accusations of refusal to order. Then followed several months of noise, bad atmosphere and high expenses. The case between the whistleblower and Elsafadi is history, but the 46-year-old is very dissatisfied with the sports association’s handling of the case. That is why he is speaking out now. – I don’t even get to know simple details related to the dates of the process. Who did what, in what order? A number of things have been done here that are worthy of criticism, so they choose to hide the details, says Elsafadi. The former Champion of Champions winner reacts strongly to several parts of the handling. He is calling for information about what has been going on behind the scenes, and he simply believes that the sports president should consider resigning in the wake of this case. – I think that every time you have tried to cover up truths by hiding truths, something is not right. That warning light should be on for everyone, he continues, before making a strong call to Kjøll: – She should be a leader enough and tough enough to say “if this is objectionable enough for the board to think I should go, then I should go ». – Do you think she should go? – I think she should leave immediately. Elsafadi elaborates that he thinks Kjøll should make her leadership position available, and ask the board to consider whether she should stay on, or whether she should step down. Sports president Berit Kjøll has been sent both the criticism and the accusations, but she does not want to comment. Instead, Vibecke Sørensen, 1st vice-president of NIF, answered questions related to the handling of the notification case, and spoke about her experiences of Berit Kjøll as leader. DUO: Vibecke Sørensen and Berit Kjøll make up two thirds of the presidency of the Norwegian Sports Confederation. Here they are pictured last winter. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB – It’s an outright lie After the conflict arose in December, an investigation by an external lawyer was ordered. It cost around NOK 400,000. The investigation led to a report that Elsafadi experiences as a “large and comprehensive attack”. During a press briefing on 31 March, it was announced that attempts were made to resolve the conflict before the investigation was ordered. Elsafadi does not recognize herself in that. – It is an outright lie. It has never been attempted to be resolved in any way whatsoever, he says. Sørensen does not have the same version. – Dialogue between the parties was attempted, where the presidency took the initiative for dialogue between both parties. The re-notified party did not want to accept the offer to end the case at an earlier time, says the vice-president. CLEAR SPEECH: Elsafadi, pictured here during the Norway Cup a few years ago. Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB Elsafadi believes the claim that an attempt was made to resolve the conflict is just one of several untruths Kjøll has made in this case. – I have witnessed her say again and again that everyone involved in the notification case has been well taken care of. That is completely wrong. Claims of full transparency also cause him to be stumped: – The transparency she claims she has in this case is not true either, believes Elsafadi, who for several months has called for information on who really had what responsibility in the then ongoing case. These questions remain unanswered. news has seen documentation that he has requested this. Kjøll will therefore not comment, but Sørensen says the following about Elsafadi’s statements about the handling: – I understand that he experiences it as a demanding case. We have been in contact with those notified all along, with substantial contact by e-mail and telephone, she says. – Does the presidency take self-criticism in this case? – It is clear that in a case like this, which is so demanding with different parties, views and needs, it is demanding to resolve such a case to everyone’s satisfaction. I am absolutely certain that the entire presidency sees that there are situations we could have handled differently, Sørensen replies. – Embarrassing to witness During a press conference on 31 March, Kjøll stated that at that time the case had cost just over NOK 1.1 million, despite the fact that the sports association’s own lawyer thought the whole conflict was a misunderstanding. The amount is higher now. NIF states that they have spent around 150,000 on communication assistance. In addition, not all legal fees were included in the initial amount that was stated. Nevertheless, sports president Kjøll was clear that no one has done anything wrong. BOARD MEMBER: Marco Elsafadi. Photo: Private – In a year where we are laying off employees in NIF, in a year where we know that children and young people are not allowed to take part in sports because they cannot afford it, we can’t we can’t spend NOK 1.5 million and so on a lot of time and resources to attack a board member for something that was a so-called misunderstanding, to then say that everything has been done correctly, concludes Elsafadi. – It is disrespectful to everything and everyone involved. Someone must be held responsible for that, he demands. He is clear about who must take responsibility: – It is always a managerial responsibility when things like this get out of control. It should never have happened. But when you sit there at a press conference and try to present that everything has been done right, including from her as the top manager, and where no one is held accountable. It’s almost embarrassing to witness. – What do you want? – I am clear that I want a proper cleansing. Someone must take responsibility for the matter escalating in this way. BETTER TIMES: Elsafadi and Kjøll pictured in 2020. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Disagreement about Kjøll as leader Elsafadi clarifies that he had great confidence in Berit Kjøll when he was voted into the sports board in 2021, but that his experiences in the boardroom have been disappointing. – The ceiling I thought was there, it turned out not to be as high when I entered the boardroom and started fighting for the rights of children and young people in Norwegian sports. It was very painful and stressful. DISAGREE: 1. Vice-president Vibecke Sørensen, pictured here on a previous occasion, does not agree with Elsafadi. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Sørensen does not agree that the ceiling height is low: – I don’t recognize myself in that. I feel that we have a board with different backgrounds, different views and opinions. We usually end up with agreed decisions, because we have a chairman who focuses on good case management, says the vice-president. Elsafadi also starts with good words when asked what Kjøll is like as a leader: – Berit Kjøll is a charming lady. She is clever and takes the room. I have let myself be charmed by her, like many others, replies the 46-year-old, who gradually got a different impression of the Norwegian sports president: – As I have sat up close and seen how she operates as a leader, where she is not particularly good at involving her board, creates discord in the ranks. It is worrying. That is why I have been clear that it is time to change. Vice-President Sørensen has a completely different opinion: – I see her as a professional leader who has clear leadership experience. She is committed, energetic and gets down to business. She is efficient with the goal of solving cases for the good of the sport, she believes. In June there are presidential elections. Kjøll is standing for re-election, and board member Zaineb Al-Samarai has said that she is standing as an opposing candidate. Already in December, Elsafadi informed the selection committee that it was out of the question for him to continue on the board, if they chose Kjøll as president. At that point in time there were three candidates. An news survey in January showed that it was precisely Al-Samarai that was in the best position.
ttn-69
– Embarrassing to witness – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
