– In the ideal world, I completely agree that there should be equality before the law in all similar cases, says Ståle Solbakken to news. Norway’s national team manager has received criticism from Culture and Equality Minister Anette Trettebergstuen, who on Wednesday came out strongly against the fact that there are still wage differences between the A national team coaches in the Norwegian Football Association (NFF). Football president Lise Klaveness revealed to news on Wednesday that the new women’s national team manager, Hege Riise, was going to be remunerated at the same level as the football president. VG learned earlier this year that the salary is around NOK 1.7 million. By way of comparison, news can learn that Solbakken earns roughly three times as much as NFF, i.e. around five million kroner. When news confronts him with the numbers, the national team manager replies as follows: – You’re not missing much there. THE AFTERTRACT: Solbakken thinks he could both triple and quadruple his salary if he had another coaching job. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB – Market forces play a role Solbakken understands that there will be reactions in the wake of the salary differences on the coaching side. Nevertheless, he says: – It is probably the case that there are some very heavy market forces that have come into play and have come into play over a long period of time. – So I think the NFF is quite far ahead. I think that Hege is quite happy and I am quite happy. I took the salary I was offered by Terje Svendsen when I became national team manager, without us actually negotiating at all, Solbakken continues. – Do you realize that this can upset you? – Yes, I have no difficulty in believing that. I also believe that many people understand and see the whole picture. I feel that the NFF is perhaps the football association in the whole world, next to the American one, which has come the furthest in terms of equality. Then it can certainly be better and different. It will be and, as time goes on and as women’s and girls’ football grows bigger and bigger, he replies. DISCUSSING: Hege Riise and Lise Klaveness. Photo: Trond Reidar Teigen / NTB – Will get better Solbakken describes the inequality that has existed between men and women in football in a historical perspective as “extreme”. The 54-year-old admits that he earns well as national team manager. – Working in the NFF, with the finances it entails, I earn well. I guess Hege does too. I think both of us could earn a lot more elsewhere. Hege has been in England, and could certainly have been an aspirant to coach some of the big English clubs and certainly multiplied his salary by a lot. – What do you think about the difference of around three million kroner between you and Hege Riise’s salary? – I think things will gradually get much better for girls’ and women’s football. It will probably be a bit more step by step than some might want. Because we all want it to be the same on all parameters. This is probably not just about the NFF, it’s probably also about a historical perspective and market forces not least. Reacts strongly The following day, the Minister of Culture and Equality, Trettebergstuen, is still ready in his speech. She believes that the wage differences are far too great. STATED: Anette Trettebergstuen has directed criticism at Lise Klaveness and the Norwegian Football Association, and believes Hege Riise’s national team salary is too low. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB – The signal that a female coach is paid less than a male one supports that women’s football is less valuable. It’s old fashioned and not right. I think Norwegian football should take the lead because Norwegian sport takes the lead on equality otherwise, says Trettebergstuen to news. She is supported by top football manager in the Toppserien Hege Jørgensen, who is also disappointed by the lack of equal pay. – That there can be a degree of difference in a salary level in relation to pressure, travel days and so on, that can probably be the case. But we believe that the football association should really take the lead when it comes to equal pay for women’s football, says Jørgensen to news. CRITICAL: Top football manager in the Toppserien Hege Jørgensen. Photo: Harald Thingnes The top football manager does not buy the argument that it is market forces that control salaries in the NFF. – It is not the market forces that define the salary of the national team managers in the association, it is the football association itself that does. Thus, they can choose which level to have on the salary of the coach of the women’s national team, versus the men’s national team. No one but them decides that. It is Norwegian football’s economy that finances that salary, it is not the market forces themselves, she believes. – Earning more than its predecessor news has confronted the NFF with the criticism from Jørgensen. Football president Lise Klaveness now confirms that Hege Riise does not earn less than his predecessor Martin Sjögren did as national team manager. – When we now had to hire a new national team manager for the women, we wanted to raise the level from Riise’s predecessor and offer a salary that we think reflects that this is a very important position in Norwegian football. We therefore decided to set the salary at the same salary level as for the NFF’s top elected leader, the president’s honorarium. This is a very competitive salary compared to the market we compete in when we have to bring in top coaches for the women’s side and a higher salary than Heges Riise’s predecessor had, says Klaveness. She agrees that the NFF decides the salaries, but still points out that they work in two different markets when they employ coaches on the men’s and women’s side. – Although it is of course the NFF that decides the salary for both national team managers, the reality is that we somehow have to deal with two fundamentally different markets. We work for equalization, but at the same time must compete in two markets which in Norway and in the world are extremely different in many ways, also when it comes to wages, says Klaveness.
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