– Already in the first match against Narviklaget Mjølner, we heard the damn Sami, what color is their cardigan and such, says Endre Østensen, who usually plays for Bodø Glimt. Endre Østensen says that they experienced racism in almost all the fights. The exception was the final match where they played against Harstadlaget Landsås. Photo: Private / news Piteå Summer Games are held in Piteå in Sweden. This year, 626 teams from several different countries participated. FA Sápmi participated with both a girls team and a boys team in the 16-year-old class. Both teams now talk about incitement and racism that should have happened both on and off the field. Nils Nygård is the coach for FA Sápmi’s boys team. He thinks it’s all sad. – It is sad that we will continue to experience this in 2022, says Nygård. What is FA Sápmi? FA Sápmi was established in March 2014 and took over the organization of the Sami national football teams according to the Sami Football Association (Sámiid spábbačiekčanlihttu). FA Sápmi is a member of the International Football Association “Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA)”, but is not a member of FIFA or UEFA. Had to apologize In the match against Bodølaget Innstranda, a player is said to have shouted “fucking Sami”. For this player, it had consequences during the break. – I talked to the player during the break, says Innstranda’s coach Børge Berg. He was informed of the incident from Nygård. – If we had substitutes in the tournament, I would have taken out the player, because we do not accept this. But we only had 11 players available, as the 12 player was injured on the bench. Saminess at sports events is nothing new (illustration photo). Photo: Philip Hofgaard / news Both Nygård and Endre are very happy that Berg recorded the incident with his own player. FA Sápmi’s G16 coach Nils Nygård experiences that other clubs take the events seriously and are happy that they have made contact. Photo: Private The player must have come and apologized to FA Sápmi. Berg says that they have not had similar cases and he hopes that it does not happen again. – This is not something we as a team or club stand for, so it’s just to apologize. Will have consequences Saminess at sports events is nothing new. The Sami football stars Hans Norbye and Morten Gamst Pedersen have also experienced this before. Sports manager in Mjølner FK, Kenneth Claeson, was himself in Piteå. He had not heard anything about the alleged incidents from the match between FA Sápmi and Mjølner FK before news made contact. Sports leader in Mjølner FK Kenneth Claeson had not heard anything about the racist statements that are said to have been made before news made contact. Photo: Private – We are against racism and it should not happen. It will be a consequence for players who have practiced racism, if we know who they are. – It is unacceptable. Claeson says that they want to get to the bottom of this, and that they have now contacted FA Sápmi. Is there anything you want to say to the FA Sápmi players? “It’s just a matter of lying flat and apologizing in the strongest terms,” says Claeson. Follows up the incident In the quarter finals, FA Sápmi played against Altalaget Bossekop (BUL). In this match, they are said to have been told to return to Sameland. – Damn Sami, you came back to Sameland, were the statements according to Endre. BUL’s head coach, Paul Olsen, says that he has neither seen nor heard any form of racism, but does not deny that it may have happened. Head coach of BUL’s boys team Paul Olsen says that they distance themselves from racism. Photo: Private – We distance ourselves from that, he says. Some time after Olsen was in contact with news, he can tell that they are now in dialogue with FA Sápmi about the incident. – We possibly have one clue to follow, who has made these statements. If we get to the bottom of this, then the person in question will have to call in person to apologize, Olsen says. – This is completely unheard of and we take it very seriously, says Mathias Sønvinsen Moe who is the leader of BUL. Leader of Bossekop UL Mathias Sønvisen Moe says they have not experienced Saminess as a problem, but that it can be highly relevant to do something internally. Photo: Private He says that they will follow up this internally so it does not happen again. – Some temperature and a little swearing is so far ok in the heat of battle, but attacks on person, culture, ethnicity etc. are unacceptable. BUL has just reported a similar case to the Norwegian Football Association, where one of their own players has experienced togetherness in a football match. Takes it seriously When news asks the head of operations for Piteå Summer Games, Anna Bogren Dalberg, to comment on the incidents, she has just been told about them. Have you heard about the commonality that SA Sápmi says they experienced during the Piteå Summer Games? – No, we did not know about that, unfortunately. When we received a request from Ávvir, we became aware of it. It is sad. It would have been good if we had been told about this right away, then we could have done something about it. Business manager for Piteå Summer Games, Anna Bogren Dalberg believes that such incitement violates the values of the tournament. Photo: Piteå Summer Games / news FA Sápmi’s coach thinks it is strange that the organizer has not heard anything about it. According to him, they reported this to the tournament manager after the first match. Nevertheless, Nygård now experiences that the other clubs take it seriously, and he is happy that they have made contact. – It is highly respected that they make contact and apologize. Party joik after victory – Every time we have won, we have put on party joik, says Endre. Even though the tournament did not turn out quite as Endre had envisioned, he is still happy with the victory. The boy in FA Sápmi celebrated every victory in the cup with a “party joik”. Photo: Astrid Norkyn – Then we can cheer a little extra in the face of them or celebrate a little properly, because then we know that they get extra angry, says a proud Endre.
ttn-69
Samehets at Piteå Summer Games – news Sápmi
