– I think being very selfish only thinks about their own assumptions. It’s a charity event to raise products, says NRK football expert Carl Erik Torp.

He thought it was unfortunate that Vålerenga did not agree to Brann’s proposal to play the finish on June 5 at the Brann Stadium.

– This would be a really good opportunity to make a party and then I think it’s so stupid that you can’t do it. It’s for the community, a charity event to raise awareness of women’s football, the expert said.

In January Brann sent a request through the NFF to move the match from Stemmemyren to Brann Stadium. The goal was to set up a folk festival in the main hall of the city.

– Unbelievably sad

But the change involves changing the surface from artificial grass to natural grass. Therefore, both teams are required to agree to the change, but Vålerenga has not yet agreed.

– We had a bad experience changing multiple surfaces in a short amount of time. Then it’s totally fine. What is most important for Vlerenga Football? Whether to throw a party at the Brann Stadium, or to pick up the three points, and then the answer really speaks for itself, explains Jens August Dalsegg, media manager for women’s Vålerenga.

On Monday this week, Brann again submitted a proposal if the match could be played at Brann Stadium. Once again Vlerenga said no.

– We were surprised. We think it’s really sad that they don’t want to come into this arena here and play against the women of Brann. “We had been looking forward to that and we were actually a bit surprised when we heard that they didn’t want to meet us here,” Brann’s acting general manager, Therese Andvik Rygg told NRK.

– We have to work together

In late March, Barcelona got a lot of attention when they filled the Camp Nou with a sea of ​​people, and broke the world record at Camp Nou with over 90,000 spectators when they met Real Madrid in the Champions League.

On Friday, they set a record for the second time 91,648 in the Champions League semifinal against Wolfsburg.

It’s a party that Brann wants to emulate in Norway.

– It means a lot, not only to Bergen, but to the whole country. This is important for women’s football. To have a football party in Bergen to elevate women’s football, to show all of Norway that this is important, this is community and this is volunteer work. If we want to work hard for equal opportunities, then we have to work together, Andvik Rygg believes.

In Trondheim, Rosenborg Women work to fill Lerkendal for a folk festival. The goal was to create a huge commitment to women’s football, at the same time that the Trndelags were chasing the Scandinavian crowd record.

Torp lauds Brann and Rosenborg’s initiatives and believes this is essential for Toppserien as a product to compete with major foreign leagues.

– Progress is underway now. One has ambition to become top six league and increase product and interest. Then you need such occurrences to raise interest and attention, not least because of the low interest around Toppserien. In Europe, we saw the aforementioned Camp Nou and it is a huge success and a very important factor to increase interest, said the expert.

– It’s more important to focus on performance

Dalsegg at Vålerenga understand that Brann feels they are stopping the party, but the battle for second place that gives Mesterliga games next season and a lot of money in the coffers beats everything at the moment.

– It is more important for Vålerenga to focus on performance and preparation, rather than throwing a party at the Brann Stadium. “Then it was concluded that we better prepare for the match that will take place at Stemmemyren, against Brann Stadion,” said media manager Vlerenga.

He believes that volunteering and top-flight football are two different things.

– It’s not just about points, it’s also about injury prevention. We had a bad experience in Lerkendal last year. Good in terms of points, but also that we got a few injuries by switching to grass after a lot of training on artificial turf. This is an important part of the evaluation that has been carried out, Dalsegg explains.

A request that came in January to move the match came from the Norwegian Football Association (NFF). Dalsegg reacted to this and believed it was natural to have a dialogue with Brann from the start.

– When we got an email from the NFF about “is it interesting for you to play at Brann Stadium”, it would be a bit like that… why should we? I don’t know how it’s been done at previous events, but we may have posted a question before and then you can discuss it. The NFF will of course have to agree, but we invite dialogue. But now it was too late to turn around a month earlier. We didn’t reverse the decisions we made in January, in terms of planning and all that, Dalsegg explained.

– Surprised

That argument didn’t buy Brann’s general manager.

– I thought it was a thin, simple jam. Women firefighters train on artificial turf, they play on artificial turf, and this is the month for battle. “I think there’s definitely an opportunity for Vålerenga too to train on the grass and get ready for that match here,” Andvik Rygg told NRK.

– It’s not just about this match. “It’s about making a folk festival for women’s football in general, and then you have to see this much bigger than your own team and yourself,” she followed up.

Until this week, Brann thought everything was in order and began planning the desired folk party at the stadium. The people of Bergen are not aware of the communication between the NFF and Vålerenga, so this week’s message is at least surprising.

– When we received feedback from Vålerenga a few days ago that they didn’t want to meet us here at the stadium and would rather be at Stemmemyren, we were actually taken aback, general manager Branns concluded.