– I believe that Norwegian sports would have benefited from the fact that the head of top sports is not a member of the jury in terms of the credibility of the awards and the vulnerability to criticism. It is, in my eyes, an unfortunate double role. This is what VG’s sports commentator Leif Welhaven tells news after a debate has flared up in the aftermath of this year’s edition of the Sports Gala. The last two honorary awards in the Sports Gala have been awarded to two people, jury leader Øvrebø knows well in his role as top sports manager for the Olympiatoppen. A role he has had since 2013. At last year’s Sports Gala, it was Marit Breivik who was honored with the honorary award. She had worked at Olympiatoppen for 13 years before she resigned in the autumn of 2022. Eight of those years she worked as summer sports director. This year it was Cato Zahl Pedersen who received the honorary award. He was previously head of the top sports work for the Paralympics and is now employed as a specialist consultant in the Olympiatoppen. Welhaven says this definitely gives reason to question Øvrebø’s competence. – He should have declared himself ineligible for these awards specifically and it should have been communicated to the public. The fact that he will award prizes to people he is or has been so close to in everyday life can give them an advantage compared to others who are not so close to him, says Welhaven. VG commentator Leif Welhaven believes it is worth discussing whether Tore Øvrebøs should be both jury leader and top sports manager. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Image caused reactions The image of Tore Øvrebø holding around Marit Breivik and Cato Zahl Pedersen from a press conference in 2015 caused reactions and was frequently spread after the Sports Gala on Saturday evening. Among those who shared a photo on X was Nettavisen commentator and former TV 2 journalist Ernst A. Lersveen. He shared a picture with the following text: “No comment”. – That says it all. I have expressed what I think about the latest handouts by posting that picture. I don’t need to say anything more than that, says Lersveen to news. Nettavisen commentator Ernst A. Lersveen. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Former cross-country star Petter Northug also took to X to react to the awarding of the honorary award on Saturday evening. “Ideally, Tore Øvrebø should have given the award to himself if he had the opportunity”, wrote the current TV 2 expert. Both Lersveen and Welhaven have been clear that they would rather see Johan Kaggestad, former sports coach and expert commentator, receive this year’s honorary award, although both emphasize that both Breivik and Pedersen are worthy winners. – But it is somewhat problematic when close employees of a boss are selected at the expense of others, says Welhaven. Øvrebø to news: – A unanimous jury Tore Øvrebø has been presented with the statements. He says the following to news when it comes to the fact that the head of top sports is also the head of the jury. – news, as co-owner and organizer of the sports gala, has insisted for all years that the acting head of sports at all times should lead the main jury. news has highlighted this to ensure the legitimacy of the jury’s work, says Øvrebø. Tore Øvrebø – top sports manager and jury leader. Photo: Svein Ove Ekornesvåg / Svein Ove Ekornesvåg news’s Ivar Ragne Jenssen is outgoing chairman of the Sports Gala and has worked with it ever since it was established. This is how he answers questions about whether it is appropriate to do something with the composition of the jury and move away from the practice of Olympiatoppen’s top sports manager also being the jury leader in the Sports Gala. – Every single time we have had a sports gala, we evaluate. Changes to prices and classes have taken place after these. It is our duty to put this on the agenda and talk about it, he says. – The last two honorary awards have been handed out to two people who have been close associates of Top Sports Manager Øvrebø in the Olympiatoppen. Welhaven believes there is reason to question Øverbø’s competence here. What’s Your opinion? – I have no comment on what Welhaven thinks about it. We have confidence in the jury, says Jenssen. Ivar Ragne Jenssen helped start the sports gala and has worked with it for 25 years. Photo: Håvard Jenssen / news He says that when work on the Sports Gala started around 25 years ago, they found it difficult to put together classes and the jury. Jenssen estimates that it took them half a year to land an arrangement. – What should a jury be like? Should we have a media jury? People from here and there in sports? The idea was that the Olympiatoppen, which is used to assessing the level of performance of athletes through, among other things, scholarships, was best suited for this, he says. Jenssen says that the owners of the Idrettsgalaen, news, Norsk Tipping and Norwegian sports, agreed on this together: – Then the first top sports manager became jury chairman, and it has continued that way. There was hardly anyone other than the top sporting director who had greater integrity to do this job. I can’t see that anything has changed since then. It comes with the position, not the person. Tore Øvrebø has naturally caught the criticism after passing Kaggestad. He emphasizes that he has a close relationship with the 80-year-old. – Johan Kaggestad and I were close colleagues in Olympiatoppen from 2004 to 2010. I have also been his supervisor. All dialogue between Johan and me has had a common goal of developing Norwegian top sport, says Øvrebø, and continues: – A collective jury, consisting of seven competent sports personalities, is well aware of Kaggestad’s contribution to Norwegian sport. It was a unanimous jury that awarded the honorary prizes to Marit Breivik and Cato Zahl Pedersen. The sports gala’s jury Tore Øvrebø (chairman) Suzann Pettersen Hanne Haugland Marit Bjørgen Ola By Rise Kjetil André Aamodt Knut Holmann Defender Øvrebø: – It is very natural that the top sports director is with The honorary award is given out by the jury first having a meeting where they discuss the current candidates. The basis can be input from the special associations or the jury’s own initiative. The decision is made in the second meeting, after the jury has considered and thought through the discussions from the first meeting. Former kayaker and current head of sport in the Norwegian Sailing Association, Eirik Verås Larsen, sees nothing problematic about Tore Øvrebø’s role as jury leader. – It is very natural. I think it would have been strange to have a sports gala jury without the top sports manager, says Larsen. Sports manager for the Norwegian Sailing Association, Eirik Verås Larsen. Photo: NTB He emphasizes that the top sports environment in Norway is small, and that there will be close ties anyway. – I do not feel that the honorary award has been handed out because it is friends and acquaintances or work colleagues of the top sports manager. If you have put in a lot of work for top sport in Norway for many years, then you will anyway be known by the head of top sport, says Larsen. He does not believe that the fact that Øvrebø is the leader means that his vote carries more weight among the jury. – I don’t quite see the way Norwegian top sport is structured and the values we stand for. Everyone who sits on that jury has equal value and will say what they think.
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– Unfortunate double role – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
