“Insight into the composition of the committee has confirmed our suspicions about a lack of objectivity and independence, and a process that seems superficial without a real desire to revise the national team agreement”. This is stated in a statement sent to news on Friday, where it became clear that Aleksander Aamodt Kilde will not be part of the new national team committee of the Ski Association. The statement was given on behalf of the alpine national team’s athletes. According to the statement, in November they proposed co-determination rights over the mandate and composition of a committee. They believe the Ski Association only took action after Kilde promoted a vote of no confidence in the management last week. The members of the national team committee Arne Baumann, general secretary (head of the committee) Johann Forfang, jumping Pål Golberg, cross-country Indira Liseth, para-crossing Einar Lurås Oftebro, combined Petter Svendsen, sponsor manager Telenor Stein Bugge, sponsor manager Sparebank 1 Thomas E. Darrell, manager Finnmark Skikrets Erik Bruun , ski board member Claus Johan Ryste, alpine sports manager Ivar Stuan, combined sports manager Cathrine Instebø, general manager cross-country/Espen Bjervig, former cross-country manager Clas Brede Bråthen, outgoing sports manager in jumping, was also appointed to the selection. He has now resigned. In a further statement from lawyer Pål Kleven on Saturday, who has worked for the alpine athletes and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in the ongoing case regarding the athletes’ image rights, the criticism continues. “The ski president stated that Aleksander was invited to sit on this committee. This is not true. Aleksander has not been invited to sit on the committee, and for him it appears that the ski management is once again adapting the facts to camouflage their own passivity. Nor has it been a demand from the alpine athletes that Aleksander be appointed to the committee, but that the athletes have the opportunity to appoint two resource persons to the committee,” writes Kleven. Disagree with the criticism In an e-mail forwarded by the Norwegian Ski Association’s head of communications, Espen Graff, Baumann responds to the criticism from Kleven as follows: “We disagree with much of the criticism of Pål Kleven, but wish that we can now collectively focus on to find solutions. It also has value for the athletes Kleven represents, who want change. This is a comprehensive matter, and it is my task to take into account all involved, both inside and outside the Skiing Association.” “As an athlete representative in alpine skiing, we naturally wanted to have Aleksander with us. We have had a dialogue about the selection both with Pål Kleven and Kilde.” See Baumann’s full statement in the fact box below: Answer from secretary general Arne Baumann We disagree with much of the criticism of Pål Kleven, but wish that we can now collectively focus on finding solutions. It also has value for the athletes Kleven represents, who want change. This is a comprehensive matter, and it is my task to take into account all those involved, both inside and outside the Ski Association. As an athlete representative in alpine skiing, we naturally wanted to have Aleksander with us. We have had dialogue about the selection both with Pål Kleven and Kilde. In the committee, we want to get all issues on the table, and the athlete representatives are important for us to be successful in our work on the national team agreement. We have received positive feedback from the athletes in cross-country skiing, jumping and combined when it comes to the process so far, and would like alpine skiing to be represented as well. We hope Kleven will contribute to this if the goal is to find good solutions for the future. We also listen to input and have discussed the criticism that Ski Board member Erik Bruun should sit on the committee. With his broad expertise, not least in law, we are confident that he would do a good job in the committee. But in order to contribute to work peace, Bruun himself has asked to step out of the committee. He will be replaced by board member Anne Cathrine Enstad, if the Ski Board approves. Enstad is also a leader in the Møre og Romsdal ski circuit and knows alpine skiing particularly well with a background including as a member of the Alpine committee. Committee member resigns In particular, the athletes and Kleven have reacted to the fact that Erik Bruun, board member of the Norwegian Ski Association, was part of the committee. Bruun was head of a national team model committee which in 2022 concluded that there was “no need to make significant changes to the national team model as it is practiced today”. In Kleven’s statement, the lawyer writes that the committee is “composed of people who have dealt with this case before and are prejudiced”. “The practitioners consider it inconceivable that the people who have opposed them in this case now want real cooperation, and therefore fear being caught as pawns by participating in the committee”, writes Kleven further. See the full statement to Kleven in the fact box below. The entire statement to Pål Kleven The process surrounding this selection reflects the athletes’ experiences with the NSF’s handling of the case over the past four years, where the treatment appears as a sham process and without the NSF having a real desire to change the national team agreement. After Lucas quit in October, Baumann went public and was supposed to establish a direct dialogue with the athletes, and drink coffee with Aleksander. This was supposed to be “a turning point for the Ski Association”, he wrote in a column in VG. In this dialogue in November, the athletes made a few simple demands for co-determination in the committee’s composition and mandate. Then there was complete silence, until Baumann contacted me a month later the day before the Ski Board was to discuss the committee’s composition and mandate. The athletes are then in the middle of the season without the opportunity to get involved in such a short time and were completely caught off guard, but we still managed to record some proposals for both mandate and composition. Then it was completely quiet again, until Aleksander expressed distrust towards the management of the Ski Association. Then the matter gained momentum again, and the Ski President stated that Aleksander had been invited to sit on this committee. This is not true. Aleksander has not been invited to sit on the committee, and for him it appears that the ski management is once again adapting the facts to camouflage their own passivity. Furthermore, there has also not been a demand from the alpine athletes that Aleksander be appointed to the committee, but that the athletes be given the opportunity to appoint two resource persons to the committee. The committee is made up of people who have dealt with this case before and are biased. Erik Bruun, lawyer and member of the ski board, was chairman of national team model committee no. 2 where the committee in April 2022 concluded, among other things, that “The committee cannot see that there is a need to make significant changes to the national team model as it is practiced today. The confederation centrally manages the market rights relating to athletes selected for the national team. I also record that Baumann stated in Dagsnytt 18 that he did not want me to participate in the debate because the law in the matter has been clarified. Then it is strange that the Ski Association appoints the ski board’s own lawyer to the committee. The athletes also have no confidence in Arne Baumann. He has not contributed to solving this case, but rather trained it through passivity. In addition, he has not taken into account any of the demands put forward by the athletes. As general secretary, he also has the employer’s responsibility over all the sports managers, as well as the committee’s secretary Ola Keul. The practitioners consider it inconceivable that the people who have opposed them in this matter now want real cooperation, and therefore fear being caught as pawns by participating in the committee. I emphasize that the athletes recognize the need to set up a committee, and that they have proposed that they be given the right to appoint two professionals to the committee. The athletes believe that a committee must consist of far fewer people, and where the resource persons must be at arm’s length from the association. Now the secretary general of the Norwegian Skiing Association, Arne Baumann, informs that Bruun has chosen to withdraw from the committee. In an e-mail forwarded by the head of communications in the Norwegian Ski Association, Espen Graff, Bauman responds to the criticism from Kleven as follows: “We also listen to input and have discussed the criticism that Ski Board member Erik Bruun should sit on the committee. With his broad expertise, not least in law, we are confident that he would do a good job in the committee. But in order to contribute to work peace, Bruun himself has asked to step out of the committee.” “He will be replaced by board member Anne Cathrine Enstad, if the Ski Board approves it. Enstad is also a leader in the Møre og Romsdal ski circuit and knows alpine skiing particularly well, with a background including as a member of the Alpine committee.” – It is true that I have asked to leave the committee. Beyond that, I do not wish to comment further on this, says Erik Bruun to news on Monday evening. Went hard Kilde made harsh criticism of the Ski Association’s management in an interview with news last week. – 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, said the alpinist to news. Kilde himself stated in connection with the interview last week that he had not had contact with the management of the Ski Association since 28 November. They therefore reacted when ski president Tove Moe Dyrhaug and Ola Evjen, head of the alpine committee, in connection with the same matter stated that Kilde had been invited to be part of the selection. 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 issues 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. view more
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That’s why Kilde said no to the national team committee – accuses the Skiing Association of a superficial process – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
