– I look forward. It’s going to be really fun to be there with all my friends and just play football. – Just football. No flirting? – No, I focus on football and not girls, says Karl Emanuel Tischler (13) before he slams the ball into the goal at the Midjord Stadium in Stavanger. Karl Emanuel Tischler (in blue) plays football with friends at Brodd’s summer school. He is looking forward to the Dana Cup. But it will be significantly more expensive this year. For many children and young people, this year’s big football tournament is just around the corner. On 24 July, the Dana Cup starts in Hjørring, which every year is visited by hundreds of Norwegian teams fighting for victory in the A and B play-offs. But this year it will be more expensive. The Dana Cup, like most others, has found itself obliged to increase the prices in this year’s tournament. At the same time, the Norwegian krone is significantly weaker than the Danish krone. For the Brodd sports team in Stavanger, it has become far tougher than they had imagined. General manager of Brodd FK, Kyrre Sandven, hopes someone can come up with the ultimate scheme that ensures that all children can engage in leisure activities, regardless of income. Photo: Håkon Jonassen Norheim / news NOK 300,000 too little At first they thought they had full control, but a few months ago they got a surprise when they got the full cost picture. – As it looks now, we have a shortfall of between NOK 250,000 and 300,000, says the club’s general manager, Kyrre Sandven. The club has good liquidity, according to Sandven, but they see themselves having to initiate some immediate measures this year in order not to have too great a deficit. That is why, among other things, they have created a Spleis. 786 Norwegian football teams are participating in the Danish Dana Cup in Hjørring this year. It is a new record. Here from 2022. Photo: Jess Mejdahl Madsen / Dana Cup – We have created it to see if there is anyone who wants to contribute a hundred or more. It is completely anonymous. What we don’t want to do is send an extra bill to those who have already signed up, says Sandven. 180 children and young people from Brodd FK travel to the Dana Cup at the end of July. For that, each participant must pay NOK 5,000 as their own share. But several of the teams have been involved, so that the most enthusiastic have had their share reduced to around NOK 3,000 per person. – There is still a lot of money, but at the same time at a level most people manage to achieve. There is a lot of football joy at the big Danish tournament. Photo: Jess Mejdahl Madsen / Dana Cup 15–20 percent struggle to pay At the same time, Sandven says that between 15 and 20 percent have challenges paying this deductible. These receive help to apply for support, or can receive welfare funds from the club. – There is no one who will not go to the Dana Cup because they cannot afford it, he says. Sports president Zaineb Al-Samarai thinks it is sad that many families are now in a situation where they are struggling to pay for children and young people to participate in sports. – It is a terrible situation that families have to choose between paying for food, electricity and loans versus giving children wonderful memories for life and a good basis for getting on, she says. She hopes the politicians will take action. – I hope the politicians see the value of the social responsibility we bring to sports and join in and ensure that children and young people can still participate in their sports, she says. Zaineb Al-Samarai hopes that the politicians can help to ensure that more children and young people can afford to take part in sports. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB Considering other tournaments Against all, or at least many odds, Ålgård FK in Rogaland has a record number of entries for the cup in Denmark this year. Managing director Asbjørn Jøntvedt explains that they set a deductible of NOK 5,600 in February. Since then, 100 Danish kroner has gone from 140 to 160 Norwegian kroner. – This is not exactly a gold mine for the club. Life is not made for the long haul, he says. They even organized a lottery that should be able to lower the deductible for the players going to Denmark. – But the money we received there was eaten up by the Danish krone, he says. He admits that if the Norwegian krone continues to weaken, they will have to see if they should rather take part in tournaments in Norway in the future. Player stood and cried Kyrre Sandven in Brodd has experience of how important the Dana Cup is for a child or young person. Ålgård FK plays this week in Cup No. 1 in Frederikshavn in Denmark. Photo: Kjell Ove Sivertsen He remembers well when he was at the Dana Cup in 2019 with 13-year-olds. One of the teams did not have very high sporting expectations, but experienced beating a German team in the B final in addition to winning a penalty shootout. – I still remember that one of the players stood sobbing on the field. I asked if something had happened. He replied that he was just so happy. Such a tournament facilitates memories for a lifetime, says Sandven. He thinks it’s a shame that it’s so expensive to travel to the cup. – Whoever comes up with the ultimate scheme that ensures that all children, regardless of income, can engage in leisure activities, will get a thumbs up from me, he says.
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Weak krone makes cup in Denmark more expensive – the sports president is worried – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
