It’s easier to be tough from a distance – VG

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Being an outspoken leader in Norwegian sport can be encountered in very different ways. It tells a lot about the story of Solbakken and Bråthen.

As long as the call is corrected pegs Obviously, it is easy to applaud a leader who advances relentlessly in the face of something he believes in.

But whether the relationship inad In an organization that a leader asks questions about, it may certainly be unfaithful to champion the cause of science.

Ståle Solbakken has been appointed to coach the national team, but he has been just as important as a “sports politician” in recent months. The association should be grateful for that

The damage done to the NFA’s reputation after an ambiguous debate over Qatar would have been worse had it not been for Solbakken’s entry.

But now the national team manager has done a very exciting job. Mixes in party politics.

There is a big difference between fighting to frame sport during a pandemic, and taking a public stand on who should rule our country.

There are several questions sports leaders could have asked on this topic:

Should a national team manager wear a partisan political hat related to a burning issue?

Do we have a red, white, and blue national team if the president goes to war for this or that color code in government offices?

We’ve seen relatively little of this discussion.

At the NIPA Sports Conference in Orland, NFF Vice President John Morland was asked about the topic.

The answer revolved around the need for a higher ceiling in Norwegian sports. This value is very important.

Here, the NFF should have said there was room for Solbakken to also be clear to his employer.

It is critical that room for maneuver does not apply only when the authorities are the ones receiving the criticism. Here unfortunately the ceiling height varies with different organizational levels.

The crux of Solbakken’s criticism was about the framework conditions during the Covid crisis. He is upset by the crowd at Ullevaal, the matches that had to be moved abroad, and what he experiences as a distortion of competition as a result of politics.

The conflict between Clas Brede Bråthen and the leaders of the Norwegian Skating Association also revolves around the ban of an athlete who has expressed frustration with the consequences of the pandemic on the opportunity to play the sport. It wasn’t that popular.

Interview in Dagbladet December 15 is the focus of the union’s case against him.

There, Bråthen criticizes how hard the girls are beaten. One of the questions he asks is what the Ministry of Culture has done, but he also questions whether the Norwegian Ski Association has done enough from a gender equality perspective.

The interview took place after the cancellation in Lillehammer. Confederation tops react to the fact that something other than just infection control has been pulled.

Criticism has fallen so heavily on NSF management that they are actively using the interview as the official basis for getting rid of Bråthen after the season.

Of course, we may have different opinions about the content of the sporting director’s statements. But what’s so bad about what he says?

It’s hard to understand that it should affect him personally because he stands up for what he believes, even if important questions are asked of his foundation. If you read the entire interview at Dagbladet, it is hard to find anything other than committed enthusiasm in the text.

The contradiction is further heightened in the context of how other forms of freedom of expression are dealt with – with the aim of fighting for their environment – by a leading union in the country’s largest grassroots movement.

Either way, the topics are challenging and fun.

Although the two situations are of course very different, there is something very thought-provoking about how the different reactions to these two by their superiors are countered.

There has to be room to fight for something one believes in in Norwegian sport, as well as in the public sphere. Then the release of the ointment should be allowed in both directions.

But unfortunately, it can be easier to be difficult from a distance.