Letter to NIF v/ the sports board Lack of trust in the athletes’ committee and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen as leader In accordance with the athletes’ committee’s statutes adopted by the sports board on 30 March 2017 based on NIF’s Act § 4–4 k), cf. § 4–6 (1), it is the sports board that is responsible for the establishment and functioning of the athletes’ committee. The athletes’ committee shall represent the interests and views of elite athletes who play sports organized by organizational links in the Norwegian Sports Confederation and Olympic and Paralympic Committees (NIF), and among other things advise NIF and look after the elite athletes’ interests within sports policy. As a result of the ongoing war of aggression in Ukraine, this winter the sports committee has dealt with questions related to Russian and Belarusian participation in international sports. This case has exposed a number of serious weaknesses in the Norwegian practitioner democracy. The athletes’ committee is currently not fulfilling its mandate and committee leader Uhrenholdt Jacobsen is in a dual role that compromises her legitimacy and independence as a representative of the interests of Norwegian athletes. The athletes’ committee has failed to promote Norwegian athletes’ sports policy point of view, and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen as leader has worked across the athletes’ interests. The head of the athletes’ committee has been called to several dialogue meetings on the topic under the auspices of the IOC. At the first meeting in January, she expressed, reproduced in news (29.01.23), on behalf of Norwegian athletes that: “In our opinion, non-discrimination is invariable. Our mission will continue to be a unifying force, and that should remain our focus. That means that no athletes should be excluded only because of their passport. And, we wish for our fellow athlete commissions to come together regarding our values. Then, secondly, we can discuss with it whatever practical needs that would need to get in place to potentially let all athletes return to the field of play.” Jacobsen had no evidence to say this on behalf of Norwegian athletes. She has been repeatedly called upon to carry out a survey to survey the actual opinion of Norwegian athletes on the matter, and this work took far too long before it was initiated. In the meantime, Norwegian athletes lost the opportunity to have a say in the ongoing process – both in the IOC and in Norwegian sports’ work on the matter. Jacobsen firmly asserted to the athlete mass in two joint meetings that there was no rush to obtain the athletes’ opinions, despite this need being stressed by, among others, the undersigned. At the same time, she took out a protocol input in the Sports Board’s decision on the matter on 02.02.23 and then wrote: “The athletes’ committee follows the ongoing processes in the international sports movement. When these have been concluded, we will take a position on this through a broad survey among Norwegian top performers.” The provision of the protocol stands in clear contrast to the message she expressed to the mass of performers, where she claimed that there was no need to take an immediate position and at the same time assured that we should not wait until the process was over, but on the contrary should be heard along the way. When an athlete survey finally took place, it showed that Norwegian athletes support a continued ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, and that they believe it is wrong to have a process to look at possibilities for reintroduction now. The athletes also wanted the athletes’ committee to take an active position on this in the ongoing process with the IOC. It has not been possible for us as practitioners to get more information about the answers since Uhrenholdt Jacobsen will not give us access to the results of our own opinion poll. However, this did not prevent her in the last dialogue meeting with the IOC from expressing precisely the Norwegian athletes’ opinion, and as she herself put it in the athletes’ WhatsApp group, chose to “represent simple numbers from our survey, without subjective treatment.” Uhrenholdt Jacobsen gave his word that Norwegian practitioners would be involved and heard in a formal process, and that the ongoing dialogue meetings were only informal. She urged us to trust the international organization and to have confidence in the process and her control over it, justifying this by the fact that she had very good contact with the IOC. This turned out to be a bad strategy when the IOC Executive Committee on 29.03.23 ended the dialogue process by recommending a list of neutrality principles to include athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in international sports, without the Norwegian athletes’ position ever being officially put forward in relevant athlete forums . The athletes’ committee also never made any decision about what they should think on behalf of Norwegian athletes. Through the manager’s strategy of sitting on the fence and waiting, the athletes have lost the opportunity to be heard in a matter of great importance to many, and which deals with sport’s core values such as integrity and fair play. Not only have we lost the opportunity to be heard in our position, but the leader has used his platform to advocate the opposite attitude of the majority of the athletes, both in meetings with the IOC and the sports board. She has also failed to correct this after being informed of the athletes’ opinion. This is completely unacceptable, and a gross breach of trust towards Norwegian athletes. An IOC member cannot act as leader of the Norwegian athletes’ democracy Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen sits on the Norwegian athletes’ committee by virtue of being a member of the IOC’s athletes’ committee. In other words, her position is rooted in the IOC, and she answers “home” to the IOC, not Norwegian athletes. When you become an IOC member, you are obliged, in accordance with the Olympic Charter, point 16, 1.3, paragraph 7, to take the oath: “I promise to fight against all forms of discrimination and dedicate myself in all circumstances to promote the interests of the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Movement.” In other words, as part of her international role, she is obliged to be loyal to the IOC’s interests and perspective. Despite the fact that she is the leader of the Norwegian athletes’ committee, she has taken an oath to promote the IOC’s interests in all situations. This is not compatible with the statutes for the athletes’ committee and its mandate to represent the views and interests of Norwegian athletes. In cases where Norwegian athletes’ interests and the IOC’s interests are different, in other words, she will not be able to represent both positions with integrity. The leader of the athletes’ committee sits in a dual role as an IOC member, and Norwegian athletes’ foremost voice is thus compromised. This dual role may explain her failure to represent the interests of Norwegian athletes in the ongoing case. The dual role also contributes to weakening the trust in the leader of the athletes’ committee and opens up unnecessary and inappropriate speculation about motives, as well as weakening trust in one’s own organizational unit. The athletes must be confident that their highest representative in sports policy matters actually represents the athletes, and not the body we are supposed to represent. Upcoming processes 12.03.23 Uhrenholdt Jacobsen declared in the athletes’ group on whatsapp that there are imminent elections for the athletes’ committee. Even though the special associations were notified of the election already in mid-December, and the election is planned to be held during the spring, she was able to report that the new athletes’ committee will only take office after the sports council in June. She justified this by saying that the current athletes’ committee must “deliver to the sports council”. The elected athletes in the athletes’ committee answer to the athletes who elect them, not to the Norwegian Sports Council. It is therefore not an independent argument that they must answer to the matter. On the contrary, this robs our next representatives of making input and having influence in sports policy in the coming period. Our representatives should be elected well in advance of the sports council and put in a position to take a seat and contribute as soon as they are elected. Norwegian athlete democracy is weakened, and is in an unsustainable situation where our point of view and interests are not safeguarded in accordance with the statutes. As the responsible body, I urge the Sports Board to address the situation and clean it up immediately.
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Kjetil Borch skin braids Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen in an explosive letter – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
