– I am so happy with this sport that I want to come back. But I also notice that if I’m going to come back, something has to change at the very top of the Ski Association, says Aleksander Aamodt Kilde to news. It is barely a month since Kilde fell brutally in Wengen. He sits in a wheelchair while news meets him at home in Innsbruck. He is working towards being able to walk again, and perhaps eventually return to skiing. But there is something gnawing at him and stealing his focus. In this interview with news, he has decided to throw down the gloves and take a proper stand with the leadership of the Ski Association. The wear and tear has become too great. – It is a top-down attitude where they think that athletes come and go. In the end, maybe no one comes because there is so much arrogance that people can’t bear to have anything to do with them, says Kilde to news. LEI: Aleksander Aamodt Source. Photo: Eirik Fure / news Wants new management It all revolves around the national team model and the athletes’ rights. The conflict has lasted for several years. And now Kilde has had enough. – It is hard to think that you have an organization that is fighting against you. Now the focus is on getting back on my feet for me. But as I said, that doesn’t make the situation any easier, he says. “Arrogance”, “an unprofessional top-down attitude” and “zero response” are words that Kilde uses in his description of the management of the Norwegian Skiing Association. – I have to say that the trust is greatly weakened on my part. If you ask me, it’s quite clear what we need to change here: It’s the board and how things are managed, he says. – The unprofessional Alpinisten does not want to specifically name who he wants out of the management, and says that the criticism applies to the board in general. – It has been quite a disappointment to be completely honest. To feel a bit of unprofessional handling from the board of the Ski Association, he says. He believes that they must find people from the outside who want and are willing to change. – Why would it help to make changes – as changes have already been made along the way – for example with Tove Moe Dyrhaug and Arne Baumann? – I think they will be overpowered by those who have been there before. They are unable to make a change, because it is so clearly said that the model that has been there before is good, answers Kilde and adds: – We must have someone with a personality who is willing to fight for it. Then one must take the fight. Then you can’t sit there and become a throwaway ball, emphasizes Kilde. ANSWER: Ola Evjen is committee leader for alpine skiing and sits on the ski board. Photo: NTB news has presented Kilde’s statements and allegations to the Norwegian Ski Association. In an e-mail, communicated via the head of communications at the Ski Association, Espen Graff, ski president Tove Moe Dyrhaug and alpine committee leader Ola Evjen make a joint statement: “The athletes are the most important thing we have, and we go to work for them every day. That is why Aleksander has been invited to sit on the committee, and we will listen to him and the other athlete representatives when we look together at how the national team agreement can be modernised. In the committee, there must be a ceiling height so that everyone can talk openly about the issues that Aleksander raises. Everything must be on the table so that the committee can deliver the most agreed proposal to the Ski Board.” it says in the statement. The conflict between the ski stars and the Norwegian Ski Association After a long disagreement between the alpinists and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo on the one hand, and the Norwegian Ski Association (NSF) on the other, the association’s own legal committee came up with a statement that gave the athletes complete victory in the dispute over image rights. The statement said that the athletes and NSF had to agree on the extent to which the association would be allowed to use the athletes’ image rights in commercial agreements. The athletes expected the parties to jointly negotiate a new national team agreement that was in line with the legislative committee’s statement in 2022. The board of the Norwegian Skiing Association adopted a “standard national team agreement for the 2023/24 season”. In the minutes of the meeting, it is described that certain adjustments were made based on both feedback from the athletes and the legal committee’s conclusion. The athletes were presented with the national team contract for the coming season. In the contract, the Skiing Association had disregarded the legislative committee’s conclusion, according to the athletes. In the same month, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo turned down a place in the national team. The then general secretary Øistein Lunde held a new briefing regarding the national team contracts for the ski board. Earlier in June, Lunde stated in several media cases that he believed that the Skiing Association had taken into account both the athletes and the legal committee. Andreas Ekker, head of the Skiing Association’s Law and Prosecution Committee (LPU), briefed the board on the process surrounding the national team agreements seen from the legislative committee’s perspective. Later that month, Ekker came up with a concrete proposal for a national team agreement with wording that the athletes should have approved. The board decided that an inquiry should be made to the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) for “assessment of interpretation questions relating to current provisions in the NIF Act”. In the minutes, it is stated that board member Kristin Gjertsen argued against: “As a board, we have made it clear that the national team agreement as it currently stands, in LPU’s assessment, is not in line with laws and regulations. We have little to gain from prolonged conflict, and there are good, alternative solutions.” Lucas Braathen announced that the conflict has taken a toll on both his joy and motivation, and that he has therefore ended his skiing career. The legislative committee of the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) came up with its conclusion. There, too, the athletes received support. Board member Kristin Gjertsen sent an apology to the athletes after her proposal for a public apology was voted down. Show more – Meeting the wall again and again Kilde explains that he is speaking out on behalf of the alpine skiers and individual athletes in other disciplines who are very critical of the national team model. They think it is outdated. – What have you done to try to establish a dialogue here? – We are talking about three years where we have proceeded in the ways that we feel have been very good and constructive. And we just hit the wall time and time again. It is a frustration we are left with, he explains. He claims not to have received an answer from ski president Tove Moe Dyrhaug or secretary general of NSF Arne Baumann for several months. – I have tried to have some contact with them. We have had some email correspondence in November. And since that – to be exact – 28 November, it has been completely quiet, says Kilde. “The athletes and our sponsors are important to the Ski Association, and these are well represented in the selection. We will continue the dialogue about this with Aleksander directly with him in the committee.” it says in the e-mail from Dyrhaug and Evjen. THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SKI ASSOCIATION: Secretary General of the Norwegian Ski Association Arne Baumann and ski president Tove Moe Dyrhaug. Photo: Montage NTB Source says the lack of response from the association’s part has cost, and affected him to a large extent heading into this year’s season. – I would not say that there has been a direct consequence towards the fall in Wengen. I think there were other reasons for that, but that there has been a total package heading into the season which has been a bit too much – that cannot be ruled out, he says. The conflict In short, the conflict is about the athletes’ market rights and the national team agreement. Specifically, the right to dispose of one’s own images and image use. – It is very clear that this is what we want, says Kilde. He highlights this conflict as one of the main reasons why former alpine skier Lucas Braathen chose to quit earlier this autumn. In November, the legislative committee of the Norwegian Sports Confederation made a statement regarding the athletes’ rights. The athletes’ lawyer, Pål Kleven, interpreted the statement as follows: “We note that NIF’s legal committee confirms what the athletes have claimed all along, and which the Ski Association’s own legal committee has also concluded, namely that the athletes own their own image rights and that the Ski Association’s use of these rights therefore must be agreed between the parties”. But according to Kilde, little has happened since then. – We are very constructive in our approach, and when there is zero response back, it is boring to know. – I have a maximum of five years left in my career, and know that when I finish, my income is finished. That’s why we’re into it with image rights. For me, who has the opportunity to have sponsors on the outside without being the alpinist Aleksander, and to have the opportunity to post a post and get, for example, NOK 200,000. – Aren’t we talking many millions here? – It depends on how you are as a person and what your value is. So yes, we are talking about millions in that sense.
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– If I’m going to come back, something has to change at the very top of the Ski Association – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
