The dispute within Fram Larvik has culminated in the general manager of the sports club having engaged a lawyer. Managing director Rune Holst Bloch is now trying to clear up what he believes are misunderstandings. The background is that last year he and 18 others signed an initiative to lift the club’s ban on a man convicted of assault. The article has, among other things, led to the profiled sports commentator Daniel Høglund resigning from the sports association. This week, the Fram leadership had a meeting about the matter. Believes avis has written grossly misleading cases Lawyer Øyvind Røed has sent a letter to news and the newspaper Østlandsposten, which mentioned the case first, on behalf of the general manager and operations manager of Fram. He writes that he believes it is obvious that many people believe that the petition concerns another man convicted of assault, who committed a series of assaults on Fram’s premises. This man was sentenced to 8 years in prison for the assaults. The man the written initiative is actually about has been sentenced to prison twice for sexual intercourse with children. In total, he has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for these conditions. He has also been convicted of attempting to arrange a meeting with a child under the age of 16. This turned out to be a scam. The boy he arranged to have a meeting with did not exist. In the letter to news and ØP, the general manager’s lawyer refers to a newspaper headline about a rape in 2011. The man in question has not been convicted of rape. Røed believes that ØP has written cases that are grossly misleading. The general manager of Fram tells news that he was shocked and reacted when he saw the newspaper’s angle. – This has grown completely out of proportion. I involved a lawyer because I felt we needed legal assistance to get this case down to what it is actually about, says Rune Holst Bloch to news. He emphasizes that it was never intended that the person in question should have any position, role or membership in the club. Several have stated to news that they fear that the consequence of the unrest will lead to announcements from the sports club Fram in Larvik. Photo: Theo Aasland Valen / news There has only been an inquiry that a person could come in and get a limited offer during the day, says Bloch. – The way it has been angled, it appears that we have an acceptance that a former convicted of assault should enter our club freely. It was never the intention that he should have anything to do with children and young people. – Misleading Østlandsposten does not agree that their cases are grossly misleading. Some of the criticism is nevertheless justified, says Tonje Skørtvedt, acting responsible editor of the newspaper, who has published the entire letter from the lawyer with the newspaper’s response. She admits that the newspaper had a misleading middle title that dealt with rape. – We’ve had mistakes we absolutely shouldn’t have had, and I’m flat on that. We should have been more precise than we have been in that matter here. Tonje Skørtvedt, acting responsible editor at Østlandsposten. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news ØP has clarified that the person the case concerns has not committed abuse in connection with Fram and that it is a person with a shorter sentence, says Skørtvedt. Three people have been convicted of child abuse in Fram. This means that people can easily mix things up, the editor believes. The other two convicted of assault have far bigger and more serious sentences, she adds. But the main message stands, even if the assaults the man is convicted of happened before his time in Fram, says Skørtvedt. – It is still about a person associated with Fram who has been convicted of sexual abuse against two children and for grooming what he thought was a 14-year-old boy. Skørtvedt says that Østlandsposten has allowed all parties to speak and that sources they have interviewed have specified that the person concerned should not work with children and young people. ØP has entered a correction in the original case and has also written a fact box in which they correct what has been misleading. – Makes no difference Sports commentator Daniel Høglund confirms that he initially thought the signatures concerned the man who has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for a series of assaults in Fram. He still does not believe that it makes any difference in his view of the matter. He insists that it was right to withdraw from the club. – After what I have learned about the other man, there is no difference for me, says Høglund to news. Sports commentator Daniel Høglund Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB The sports commentator says that he knows very well what both cases are about. – It is far more than the “glossy picture” some try to paint, he believes. There is a reason why the board has stood firm in its exclusion of the man, says Høglund. – Although we can discuss the degree of severity between the two, it is a derailment from what is important. That children and young people should feel safe. I really think this is a hopeless derailment. The general manager of Fram says that it has never been a theme that children and young people should not be safe in the club. – Of course, children must be safe. It is completely obvious, says Bloch and refers to his previous statements about the purpose of the written initiative. When the initiative was rejected by the executive board in December 2022, the matter was closed, he says.
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– This has grown completely out of proportion – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
