– I guess we can be so honest that at least I had a goal that when we started this today, we would have reached an agreement. We don’t have that, said Haakon Klæbo at a press conference on Wednesday. In Orkanger, the team around Klæbo had called the press, where he presented a new sponsorship agreement, but also answered questions about the ongoing process of a representation agreement. Several national team athletes have called the ongoing negotiations an energy leak. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo himself does not think so. MEET THE PRESS: Klæbo answered questions from the press for over an hour. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB – My goal is clear, it’s the WC in 2025. That’s what I think about every single day. Then what happens next season is somewhat insignificant compared to what will happen next year, he says, and continues: – The energy leakage here has been minimal. If you ask the man standing at the far end here, I don’t think he completely agrees with me. But for me it has been relatively good. I have done what I was supposed to do. news has not yet received a response from the Skiing Association about what Team Klæbo has put forward. – I have no comment on what it is about for them. But I can say that we had a meeting on Thursday. The tone was good, actually. But some clarifications are needed before we can land this here. I sincerely believe and aim that we will be able to achieve it. We have a proposal for an agreement that has been drawn up by us. They have a different view and then we have to be able to approach each other. That is my comment and when we first have something to announce, we will communicate it, says head of the cross-country committee Torbjørn Skogstad to VG. Asking for exemption for two periods Father Klæbo says it has been far more energy-demanding for him. He claims to have spent a lot of time on the negotiations since 16 May. – You have offered everything from paying for a greaser to be in for a period, to us proposing to be represented in FIS’s periods. That means you (Johannes) have three free periods, he claims. Haakon Klæbo says that they were most recently at a meeting with the Ski Association last week. – The last thing we have proposed is that you are inside and have two periods where you are outside and have “free time”. Then I would like to emphasize that you have said no thanks to a national team agreement. This is a representation agreement. – Then there are two periods where we have asked that you get an exemption, i.e. do not represent the team. One period is probably after the Tour de Ski and the other is during the NM. Then it’s probably eight or nine days that we’ve been arguing about. That is the situation, says Haakon Klæbo, who claims that it is not about money from their point of view. COACH AND STUDENT: From left: Kåre Høsflot, coach and grandfather, and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Photo: Lise Aaserud / NTB Klæbo: The nine days are important – For me it’s about giving and taking a little, says Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. According to the ski star, they have come a long way. – I have offered to go in for an entire period, pay for lubricants and cover all stays at altitude myself. It was part of the first negotiation. Now we are where we are, for me the nine days are important, quite simply. – I want to have clarity as to when I am Johannes Klæbo as a private person, and when I am on the national team. For me, the nine days become a symbol that it is important to me. I will definitely be sitting on the sofa, but at least then I can sit on the sofa in the clothes I want to wear. Without thinking that I have to wear these and those logos on my chest. According to Håkon Klæbo, they have been offered one period of nine days. – It is during the NM period. It is the one that we have actually reported back that we want two, says Haakon Klæbo. Answers Bjervig: – I play with open cards Klæbo has previously signaled that going to the World Cup races is not necessary for him this winter. Cross-country manager Espen Bjervig was clear in an interview with news last week that he did not believe it and said that it is probably “said a bit far-fetched”. – There is a lot of seriousness in what I said, I don’t mean that it is not the case that I have to go to the World Cup this year in order to be well prepared for the World Cup in 2025. Therese Johaug had two seasons where she did not go to the World Cup and we everyone saw how it went afterwards. – It is not a must for me to go to a World Cup race, but I want to go. Of course I want to. But at the same time there are other options. It is completely real, Klæbo himself answers at the press conference. – Are you surprised that Bjervig perceives it to be sloppy? – He now gets to perceive things exactly as he wants. That must be his word. I have been clear. The things I say in the media, I mean them. I’m not standing here making any “juggle”. I play with open cards. If he means it, then it must be his opinion and something he stands for. Believes teammates were treated badly At the end of April, Klæbo announced that he would continue his efforts outside the national team. The 26-year-old has been the big star in the cross-country circus in recent years, with a total of 68 World Cup victories, five Olympic golds and nine World Cup golds. Klæbo must sign a representation agreement with the Norwegian Ski Association in order to go to the World Cup in the coming season. So far, he has not signed that agreement, six weeks before the start of the World Cup in Ruka on 24 November. Central to the negotiations on a new agreement is the issue of “image rights”, often translated as image rights in Norwegian. In April, the skiing star justified, among other things, the decision to bet outside the national team with the fact that the Ski Association could thereby reduce its costs. – I have several mates on the national team who I feel have been badly treated in this selection process. I will keep in close contact with my national team mates, even though I will no longer be part of the national team, Klæbo said at the time. He repeated the criticism in the Faster Skier podcast this autumn. It is a criticism that several of the current runners on the national team do not recognize. – I cannot put my finger on anyone who has been badly treated, that I know of. I don’t agree with exactly that point, said Simen Hegstad Krüger to news last week.
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Klæbo put forward demands – not agreeing on representation agreement – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
