On Friday, Klæbo’s agreement was ready – and now Bjervig makes a complete makeover – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

-I’m completely speechless, but I was speechless on Friday. And maybe I’m not the only one, says NRK sports commentator Jan Peter Saltvedt.

On Friday, it seemed as if the dialogue between Johannes Hosflot Klaebo and the Norwegian Ski Federation had suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly reached its goal. Cross country director Espen Bervig confirmed this to NRK.

On Sunday, the tone is completely different. Now Bervig confirms that the skating federation still wants to continue talks on a different solution than the one he himself confirmed on Friday.

– It’s a trivial matter at best on behalf of the Ski Association. Saltvedt says returning to the negotiating table now would be a huge defeat.

Confirmed agreement

– Yes, the case is out of this world. This solution has been around all along. “I and everyone knew this was possible all along,” Espen Bervig told NRK on Friday afternoon.

Then Johannes Hosflot Klaebo just sent out a press release on the status of negotiations on the representation agreement, which was not on target.

– What we have been negotiating since May is a kind of hybrid between a national team agreement and a representation agreement. Both parties wanted an agreement that was a little bigger and broader than a simple acting agreement where you can come in and out throughout the season. When we didn’t find the solution we were hoping to find an alternative to, that too with a simple solution. “We have now done our part, so we will see what the skating federation responds to,” said director Haakon Klaebo there.

The press release was issued at 16.38, 22 minutes before the Autumn Meeting of the Ski Association in Ulval. NRK happened to be standing with cross country director Bervig and head of the cross country committee, Torbjörn Skogstad, when they read what was sent.

Instant feedback

When Bervig finished reading, NRK asked him if he and Skogstad wanted to discuss the content before commenting on the case. Bervig declined this offer, and instead immediately applied for an interview.

– It was important for Klabo to have this day, so the solution ended up being for him to have a standard representation agreement just like everyone else who is not in the national team and represent it, Bervig answered in the interview, which was also shown to Dagsrevin.

The statement sparked strong reactions, because such a solution would give Claybo much greater commercial freedom throughout the season than the alternative the parties are known to be negotiating.

– Adresseavisen’s sports commentator, Birger Löfwaldli, said he is taking the inside swing at them again.

However, NRK heard on Saturday from several sources that the agreement was not as clear as Bervig expressed, and that the cross-country manager spoke in a way that was not rooted in the organization.

He wants to have new conversations with Klæbo

On Sunday afternoon, the cross country director confirmed that what he said was simply not true. He explains that there were negotiations all day and that they were close to reaching an agreement. Then came the press release in which Claybaugh stated that he was willing to abandon the use of the private sponsor’s branding on the national team kit, which had been part of the negotiations.

– Before we started the big fall cross-country skiing meeting, Claybaugh sent out a press release, and as we quickly read it, I got the impression that they wanted a solution with on and off the national team throughout the season. We have had this as a potential alternative in negotiations in the past, and I made a statement in the media about the same earlier this week, he wrote in a letter to NRK.

It continues:

– So I made my statement as a starting point, and in retrospect I understand that I should have made my statement more precisely. We will have to return to the content of the representation agreement when everything is ready.

Two days after confirming that this was out of the question, NRK informed that the Norwegian Ski Association would be contacting Johannes Hosflot Klaebo and his equipment.

– This means that we are not yet clear what the agreement is, but a standard agreement could be an alternative, as could a longer-term agreement, Bervig wrote.

– It can’t happen

NRK was also in contact with Torbjørn Skogstad on Sunday evening, who made a short comment without wanting to answer any questions.

He says: – I firmly believe that we will be able to put all the pieces in place within a short period of time.

Johannes Hosflot Klaebo was informed of Bervig’s switch through his media advisor Lasse Gemenis. Gimnes says Klæbo wants to wait for a possible answer.

However, Jan Peter Saltveit is very clear:

– Such grave mistakes cannot occur in an issue that is inflammatory and continues for a long time and is extremely important, says the sports commentator.

– Depends on Claypo

Negotiations on a representation agreement began after Claybaugh declined a place on the national team in May. During periods when non-team runners are subject to a representation agreement, they are subject to the same commercial rules as national team runners.

For periods when it is not subject to an agreement, it is completely commercially free. The agreement, which Bervig confirmed on Friday, and which he now wants to discuss further with Claybaugh about, would have given Claybaugh commercial free spells between each World Cup weekend throughout the winter.

Jan Peter Saltvedt now believes that Klaebo has very good cards in his hand, if he accepts returning to the negotiating table at all.

– If the Ski Association can now change this to a different agreement than the one Bervig confirmed on Friday, they are relying one hundred percent on the “good faith” of Claybo, who, to some extent, gets the chance to prove it. “It is about other things,” he says. Other than money.”