– We have to see if there is more infection and how quickly the players who have been infected are back in training. But we are betting that the match can be played, says Nilsen. Nilsen believes that the assessment of whether or not they could field a team against Lillestrøm has no significance as the most important thing was to limit the outbreak of infection. – The situation was serious enough on Saturday when we had ten players on sick leave. It could have escalated if we had not put measures in place. More people could have been infected and become ill, he says. At today’s training at Marienlyst, a total of eleven outfield players trained in two cohorts. Four players are still on sick leave. Coach Jørgen Isnes believes that the match against Aalesund on Sunday will be played as normal. – We can compare with the two previous seasons where some teams had to postpone matches. Then they could play the following weekend. I hope that is the case with us too, so that we get more players in proper training during the week, he says. Jørgen Isnes says that several of his players have not trained for a week. Photo: Caroline Bækkelund Hauge / news Should have managed to scrape together a team Captain Gustav Valsvik is infection-free and took part in today’s session. He says they should have been able to scrape together a team with players from the reserve team and some junior players if the match had not been postponed. – It would have been possible. Then there is the question of whether there are fair conditions of competition. We had asked if we had enough people. It is not my judgment to make. The NFF (Norwegian Football Association) has done it, and then we have to respect that, he says. Valsvik thinks it was sad to watch Monday’s football round on TV instead of taking part, and hopes there won’t be any more postponements. – If the doctors clear those who have been infected and no more become infected, we will continue. We are ready for battle, he says. Captain Gustav Valsvik says he would have played the match against Lillestrøm if the NFF had asked him to. Photo: Caroline Bækkelund Hauge / news Reported LSK chairman On Sunday, the day before the series opener in the Eliteserien, word came that the match between Lillestrøm and Strømsgodset was postponed. The reason was an outbreak of corona infection among the electricity players, which had escalated during Easter. In advance, over 8,000 tickets had been sold for the match, according to Norsk Toppfotball. Chairman of Lillestrøm Morten Kokkim is disappointed with the process. He calls for a written explanation of the decision. – We cannot have it like this when such an important matter that affects so many is to be dealt with. The reason why there is a written requirement when decisions of a certain importance are to be made is, among other things, precisely so that one can subsequently check the assessments that have been made, says chairman Morten Kokkim to Romerikes Blad. Morten Kokkim in LSK is dissatisfied with how the postponement was carried out by the NFF. Photo: Audun Braastad NFF: No requirement for the number of sick players The NFF has subsequently referred to a section in the regulations which allows matches to be postponed if, as a result of illness, a club does not have a sufficient number of eligible players available. However, Kokkim claims that the section has not been applied correctly. – They must use the regulations they are set to administer. As we consider it, they have an understanding of the regulations that we cannot see is correct. Such an intrusive measure as postponing a match must have a more thorough case management than is the case here, says Kokkim. Among other things, he is calling for a clear answer to how many players Strømsgodset had available when the decision to postpone was made on Sunday. General manager Magne Nilsen informs Romerikes Blad that Strømgodset had 15 players ready for action after the outbreak in the club. Communications director Gro Tvedt Anderssen in the Norwegian Football Association tells the newspaper that each application for postponement is processed individually. The section in question does not contain any requirement that a given number of players must be ill. Strømsgodset trained in two cohorts on Tuesday to limit the risk of infection. Photo: Caroline Bækkelund Hauge / news
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