Former Master of Masters Marco Safadi (46) is a member of the board of directors, a high-ranking employee of the Norwegian Sports Confederation who handed a notice of the date. Now, the former basketball player has asked questions to the cabinet.
Safadi is said to have told the Norwegian Sports Confederation’s selection committee that he is finished on the board if the current chairman, Peret Keol, is given a new confidence as chairman in June.
This is confirmed by VG from sources with good knowledge of the matter. Safadi must have already sent this message in early December, VG was informed.
Beret Keol wants to be re-elected as president of the sport, but faces opposition from one of its board members, Zainab Al-Samarrai (35), ahead of elections in Bergen in early June.
Marco Safadi is facing the content of this case but does not wish to comment.
But VG knows that the former basketball player is one of several dissatisfied with the situation on the current NIF panel.
“I refer to the work of the Election Commission, after which I have no comment,” Beret Keul wrote in an email to VG.
Safadi has a background as one of the best basketball players in Norway. But he has made a name for himself for his work with children and young people. He was named Role Model of the Year at the Sports Gala and has held various positions on behalf of the government. The 46-year-old has also won NRK’s ‘Master of Masters’ award.
The level of conflict at NIF reached its climax just before Christmas: the handling of the so-called MyGame affair then ended with the selection of a high-ranking person in the NIF management handing over an official notice to board member Elsafadi.
The person claimed that he was accused of refusing Safadi’s orders, and responded forcefully to this.
The background is as follows:
In mid-December, Al-Safadi learned that VG was working on the case of a 12-year-old boy who was caught by MyGame cameras while fighting in the field. The clip was publicly available for a week before it was removed.
Safadi works on a daily basis with underprivileged children and youth. Now he reacted strongly to what he was told.
VG has been told that the NIF Summit has engaged the rest of the board in a joint statement regarding the upcoming press article. The competent administrative officer must have been given the task of coordinating this, after double-checking what really happened in the given episode.
But when the order was published a few days later in the VG, there were no quotes from the NIF Board of Directors. Several more days passed before the head of NIF Digital, Pål K. Rønnevik, commented on another matter.
This, it was said, angered Marco al-Safadi.
For Runevik he is an employee of NIF, and does not participate in the board of directors.
Safadi is said to have contacted sports president Beret Kjol. Also in the room was the employee who later became the whistleblower.
In this conversation, on December 20 of last year, the employee reportedly felt accused of refusing Safadi’s orders – in the presence of Beret Kjol.
The conversation was described as “heated” and the employee is said to have taken accusations of refusing orders very seriously.
This is what led to Safadi’s warning.
Three months later, the sports association spent NOK 1.1 million on legal aid in the case.
The finale was announced at a pre-Passover press conference:
The employee did not receive any criticism for providing a notice. Marco Safadi has in no way done anything wrong according to the work environment law. The NIF management handled the notice correctly.
– The issue could have been handled more easily, with earlier focus on solutions and learning. The appointed mediator, Jan Voegner, said that the notifications or notifications did not break any rules, so everything is for their cooperation to continue as before.
He thought the issue was due to a misunderstanding.
– The lawyer said that the case could have been handled more easily, focusing earlier on repair and learning.
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