– We think it is very sad that it came to one consequence last Friday. And in our view it is completely unnecessary. You should never have gotten to where we are today, says Andreas Ekker. – Therefore, we think it is time to come out and say what this case is really about. So that the parties can hopefully sit down and talk together now, he says further. Ekker is chairman of the Ski Association’s law and prosecution committee (LPU) and emphasizes that he is speaking as chairman of and on behalf of the committee. – Our focus is to solve this difficult case. We want to do that internally, and not in the media as Ekker has chosen to do on a number of occasions, says the Ski Association’s general secretary Arne Baumann. GENERAL SECRETARY: Arne Baumann has been general secretary of the Ski Association since August. Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB It was the Legislative Committee that concluded in November last year that the athletes own their image rights, preferably translated into image rights in Norwegian. It came after a process that had lasted for several months, in which both the athletes and the Ski Association had given input. It was the alpine national team and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo who submitted the question to the Legislative Committee. Ekker has also spoken to VG this week. Was not asked before the Ski Board adopted the agreement When the Ski Board then adopted its standard national team agreements at a board meeting on 25 April, they wrote in the meeting minutes: “In the agreement for the coming season, it is based on feedback from the athletes and a statement from the LPU regarding the ownership of the athletes” image rights”, suggested some adjustments regarding duration and definition of use of images.” – How would you say that the wording of the agreement from 25 April harmonizes with their conclusion last autumn? – In its pure form, there is no doubt that the national team agreement that the ski board adopted on 25 April was not in line with the assessments of the legislative committee in November last year, says Ekker. CRITICAL: Chairman of the Legislative Committee, Andreas Ekker. Photo: Simon Zetlitz Nessler/news – NSF completely agrees with the committee’s conclusion that everyone owns the rights to their name and image, which is also clearly regulated in NIF’s law, Baumann begins, and continues: – For this reason, and not least on the basis of the legislative committee’s statement, the NSF decided in spring 2023 on changes to the national team agreement. Among other things, it was specified which limitations apply to NSF’s use of the national team athletes’ rights. According to Ekker, they were not consulted after they presented their conclusion last autumn and until the new national team agreement was adopted by the board in April. This is the conflict between the ski stars and the Norwegian Ski Association. The Alpinists and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo are in conflict with the Norwegian Ski Association over marketing rights and the national team agreement. The conflict has been going on for several years, and mainly deals with the question of the extent to which the performers themselves are entitled to their own image rights. A statement from the Norwegian Ski Association’s legislation committee in winter 2022 gave the athletes complete victory in a dispute over image rights. It states that the athletes and NSF must agree on the extent to which the association will be allowed to use the athletes’ image rights in commercial agreements. This means that the athletes have the right to greater influence in NSF’s negotiations with sponsors. What the athletes are now waiting for is for the parties to negotiate a new national team agreement that is in line with the legislative committee’s statement in 2022. Although they have not yet signed a new contract, the athletes are subject to their previous contracts due to a clause that regulates the duration of the agreement . In September, Lucas Braathen nevertheless stood up in a campaign for a competitor to one of the Ski Association’s sponsors. It must have caused strong reactions. On 27 October, Braaten announced that he was quitting. Recommended alternative solution – was not heard. It was not until September that the Law Committee again became involved in the case. Then they considered, among other things, a proposal for a new national team agreement. – At the turn of September/October there was finally a draft on the table that would simply solve the matter, claims Ekker. – It was a national team agreement with wording that the athletes could accept. The players said it would have no practical meaning for this season. All negotiations would have been postponed until next season, claims the lawyer. The Norwegian Ski Association’s legislative committee came up with a conclusion on the question of “image rights”. The conclusion was that it is the athletes who own their own image rights. The board of the Norwegian Skiing Association was informed about the process surrounding national team agreements. The board agreed on several premises, one of which was: “A prerequisite for participating in the national team is that the athletes contribute to the fulfillment of NSF’s sponsorship agreements by making the rights to their name and image available to NSF to the extent necessary to finance the national team activities’ 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 legislative 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. 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 cases that he believed that the Skiing Association had taken into account both the athletes and the legislative committee. Head of the Ski Association’s legislation committee, Andreas Ekker, briefed the board on the process surrounding the national team agreements from the perspective of the legislation committee. In the protocol it is noted: “The Skiing Board points out the importance of the organization following the applicable laws and regulations in its activities”. The board also decided to call an extraordinary meeting to deal with the national team agreement. The Law and Prosecution Committee (LPU) gives its recommendation for an alternative national team agreement, the wording of which the athletes must have accepted. The Ski Board held a briefing on the matter. Board member Kristin Gjertsen was quoted as saying the following: “In sum, this makes my conclusion simple, where I believe we should fully adopt a national team agreement in accordance with LPU’s recommendation of email 29 September 2023, as well as the process until spring 2024 proposed by lawyer Kleven described in the same email.” The board decided that the administration should address an inquiry to the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) for “assessment of interpretation questions 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.” The Norwegian Sports Confederation confirmed that they had received the inquiry from the Skiing Confederation. They further pointed out that they needed time to process the questions from the union. Show more Ekker says that in this connection a broad selection of representatives from both the administration and the athletes should also be set up. They were to look together at the wording of the national team agreement and the other regulations and present it to the Ski Board next spring, according to Ekker. What mainly differed between the agreed agreement in April and the proposed agreement in September were the preliminary clarifications regarding the image rights. – In other words, a nice amicable solution now that would allow the athletes to concentrate on the 2023/24 season, and then we could look at it together further, Ekker believes. – Very regrettable It was not, however, an agreement that the Ski Board went ahead with. – That was not the solution. From the legislative committee’s side, we think that is very regrettable, says Ekker. news has asked the Skiing Association whether the agreement that was discussed in September would have led to a solution and why no progress was made with the possible agreement. The head of communications in the Skiing Association, Espen Graff, writes in an e-mail that they do not have the capacity to go into all allegations and inquiries in detail, but have sent the following reply from the general secretary: – The Ski Board decided that the most recently signed national team agreements apply in alpine skiing. The athletes in the other branches signed new contracts before this season in the usual way, and I am not aware of anyone being negative about this. Therefore, we feel that it is a good solution at the present time. In both orientation meetings on 4 and 6 October, board member of the Ski Association, Kristin Gjertsen, has had it recorded that she requested the board to adopt the agreement proposal that was on the table, following the recommendation of the Legislative Committee. On 13 October, it was decided instead to address an inquiry to the Norwegian Sports Confederation “for assessment of interpretation issues related to current provisions in the NIF Act”. In the same meeting, the Ski Board also decided to refer to an earlier decision to establish a broadly composed national team committee. – The Ski Board agrees with Ekker to set up a committee, says Baumann. He points out that they are keen to find good solutions for all the athletes. – In the committee, which the ski board has decided to set up, athletes from various branches will have a central role. It is extra important because we feel that the athletes are not united in these questions either. As a federation, we must look after everyone, he says. WANTS CHANGE: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is among the athletes who have been critical of the current national team agreement. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB The Ski Association apologizes to the athletes. The General Secretary says they agree that the processing of the case has taken too long. – We apologize for that to all our athletes and others involved. The disagreement about the national team agreement is a complicated matter of great importance in principle, with different opinions, also when it comes to legal matters, says Baumann. – Therefore, the case has been sent to NIF so that we can also get their assessment of NIF’s law as part of the processing, he says. – The key is a good collaboration Ekker points out that through the law on the Norwegian sports federation, the athletes are obliged to let the federation use a share of their image rights. – What the matter is about is how far this duty of participation of the athletes extends, says Ekker, and points out that athletes who receive a lot of support from their national team must be prepared to give more back to the association than an athlete who to a small extent receives support. – But the key is a good collaboration between the athlete and the special association when it comes to the management of those rights. According to the lawyer, they already advised the union last autumn that they had to sit down with the athletes in order to arrive at a wording that was acceptable to the athletes. Fear of the national team model without a solution This is where the athletes have felt overlooked, as Lucas Braathen, among others, has told about. – If the athletes do not get a say in how a confederation sells their image rights to the confederation’s sponsors, more athletes will probably choose to stand outside a national team, says the athletes’ lawyer, Pål Kleven. He believes it could be completely devastating for the national team model. – The athletes and NSF therefore have completely common interests here, and this conflict should end immediately, Kleven believes. Ekker is also clear that the athletes’ dissatisfaction with the current agreement must not be seen as an attack on the Norwegian national team model. – Quite the contrary, and we also wrote that in the statement in November last year. We perceived this as an attempt on the part of the athletes to change the national team model. Not an attack on it. – The reason for that is that proper management of these image rights between athlete and federation is precisely what is needed to save the national team model. If this is not managed in the right way, there is a fear that the national team model as we know it will disappear, Ekker believes. According to Baumann, the case has developed into a case about the distribution of market rights, and not image rights as was the case at first. – However, this discussion has developed to be about far more than the ownership of the performers’ “image rights”, and has gradually become a matter about the distribution of market rights. Ekker has participated in two board meetings and is well aware of this, Baumann believes.
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The legislative committee settles after the Braathen shock – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
