The Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) and Olympiatoppen launched the Summit 2024 project last autumn, where they raise the investment for ten summer athletes before the Olympics in Paris. At the end of January, the technology and weapons manufacturer Kongsberg Gruppen also joined the team. Among those who benefit from badly needed money are the rowers. – It’s great, says former Olympic winner Olaf Tufte to news about the sponsorship money. He sits on the top sports committee in the Rowing Federation and sees only positive aspects of Kongsberg Gruppen’s sponsorship of summer sports. – That they take a social commitment and contribute to the rise of sports, that must be good. GREAT: Olaf Tufte is pleased to have Kongsberg Gruppen as a sponsor. Photo: Theodor Åleskjær / news Kongsberg Gruppen consists of three business areas, but the defense and aerospace division has the highest operating income and the company’s shares have risen by 50 percent since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Tufte believes it is wrong to focus on Kongsberg Gruppen as a weapons manufacturer . – Weapons are a very, very small part of what they are doing. None of what I’m doing is about weapons. Those who sit much higher up in the Norwegian hierarchy can have a discussion about it, Tufte believes and adds: – We don’t fly around with either bullets or grenade launchers on our sweaters. Asking for a guarantee In August, Save the Children came out and said that they did not want “weapons money” from Kongsberg Gruppen before the TV campaign. They encourage sports that are sponsored by arms manufacturers to request a guarantee from the company. – It is the precautionary assessment that I am concerned with. Therefore, we encourage everyone who is sponsored to ask the weapons manufacturers to guarantee that their weapons are not used to violate humanitarian law or commit war crimes, says Gunvor Knag Fylkesnes, director of policy and communications at Save the Children, to news. – Does sport have a responsibility and influence? – Yes absolutely. If everyone who is sponsored wins and demands a guarantee, perhaps the companies will make these safety assessments even more thorough. Ronny Lie, director of communications at Kongsberg Gruppen, wrote to news that they wish to contribute financially and technologically to Summit 2024 in order to strengthen top sporting performances and cultivate the diversity of sports. COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Ronny Lie in Kongsberg Gruppen. Photo: Maria Kommandantvold / DKBU – Can they guarantee sports that their weapons will not be used to violate humanitarian law or be used in war crimes? – The sports movement in Norway is a natural child of nation-building in Norway and represents values we all recognize ourselves in. Last week (Ukraine’s, editor’s note) President Zelenskyj visited Norway, and thanked Norway and the Kongsberg Group for their support. The fight the Ukrainian people are now fighting is not just about Ukraine. It is about Europe, Norway and each one of us – about our right to live in a free, democratic and independent country. We are proud to be able to contribute together with Norwegian authorities and allies to this end, Lie answers, without going into whether Kongsberg Gruppen can provide the guarantee that Save the Children is asking for. There have been several protests against arms manufacturers’ sponsorship of the sport and the jumpers have had reactions to their sponsor Nammo: Lie says they understand that there are several views on the matter: – We are a mirror image of Norwegian security needs and are subject to one of the strictest regulations in the world for the export of defense material. There is broad political agreement that we should have a defense and a defense industry. I respect that some people have different views on this, but I am very proud of the role I have. – Kongsberg Gruppen has a fantastic performance culture Head of top sports in NIF Tore Øvrebø praises Kongsberg Gruppen’s performance culture and commitment to top sport. – Kongsberg Gruppen has a fantastic performance culture and they are fully committed to the idea of being together to lift these sports together with us. They want to take part in and be part of strengthening the performance culture we have in Norwegian top sport. TOP SPORTS DIRECTOR: Tore Øvrebø. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB – How do you deal with the sponsor profiting from war? – After all, they are over 50 per cent state-owned, so I think that the issues there will be regulated by Norwegian public policy, so I relate to that. It is a completely legitimate, large Norwegian industrial company which is a proper technological locomotive for Norwegian business. So let’s face it. Øvrebø believes that sport should be as little political as possible. – I think it will be wrong for sport to relate to business in a completely different way than the state does. The regulations that go through legislation and the way the Norwegian state operates internationally should be our limits and we stay within them, says the top sports manager. – It is ignorant and does not inspire confidence, news’s sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt believes that sport risks losing important values in the hunt for funding. – It makes the principle disappear when the desperation for money becomes too great, says Saltvedt. Øvrebø does not agree: – No, it doesn’t. The Norwegian state and the Storting regulate through the laws what is considered okay and what is not. That relates to us and the principle must possibly lie there. Saltvedt does not buy the argument that NIF stands behind Norway’s laws and the principle of the state: – There is quite a lot that is legal in Norway that sports should not necessarily identify with. The sports commentator believes that NIF should stand for a little more and include fundamental principles in sponsorship agreements: – To abdicate total responsibility as the highest body for Norwegian top sport is ignorant and does not inspire confidence. It is worrying for Norwegian sports on a general basis. National team rower Kristoffer Brun understands that the sponsorship collaboration can be problematic, but he emphasizes what the rowers get out of the collaboration. NECESSARY PAIN?: Kristoffer Brun says that the rowers benefit from Kongsberg Gruppen’s technology, but understands that the collaboration can be problematic. Photo: Theodor Åleskjær / news – We use the technology for towing tests and coating and similar in relation to boat equipment. It is exactly that side that I find exciting, and is the one I am concerned with. One can certainly problematize it, but one also sees a need to be able to defend oneself, and to have good defense systems. It may also have gradually become part of the daily routine of European countries. You can see that it is perhaps a necessary pain, says Brun to news. – What principle do you use when it comes to sponsorship from the arms industry? – I have not reflected too much on this. It might be something I have to do. Ada Hegerberg delivered both during and after the match 01:07 Which cross-country athlete could work for Santa Claus? 01:08 A historic career is over 01:59 — Right now it’s very heavy 00:59 Show more
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– We don’t fly around with grenade launchers – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
