This week the International Ski Federation (FIS) held a committee meeting in Switzerland, and when it became known that they were opening representatives from Russia and Belarus, the Norwegian Ski Federation explained that they were withdrawing all Norwegian representatives from meetings where there were representatives from the above mentioned countries. .

Some of the roughly 30 people from the Norwegian Ski Association were already there. Among them the national team jumper manager Clas Brede Bråthen. He chose today to leave the meeting in Zurich.

– There was a participant from Belarus who was present at the meeting with the jumping committee and then we chose to leave the meeting, in accordance with the decision taken by the Ski Council yesterday, he said.

Bråthen was not aware that there would be participation from Belarus ahead of the meeting, which was not the case when he attended the meeting on Wednesday.

– It was a good decision, said Bråthen, who will no longer attend the meeting in Zurich.

– There was no big scene as we left the meeting. We did what we thought was the right thing to do. We had not been given instructions on how to do this, and left the room quietly when we realized that a representative from Belarus was there. The meeting is still going on, so I don’t know if anyone has reacted, he explained when NRK spoke to him on the phone.

– Should have avoided being in a situation

NRK sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt supports Bråthen.

– That’s the only possible way to react. He should have been allowed to be in it in that situation, but once he was there it was the only reasonable way to react, he said.

Because at the same time he pointed the finger at the Norwegian Ski Association.

– The most surprising thing is that no one in the management of Ski-Norway predicted that this situation could arise when they traveled to Zurich, because it is no secret that there was no decision to ban Russian or Belarusian delegates or representatives from the committee in question, and post on the FIS. So it’s natural for them to show up, says Saltvedt.

Understanding experience

FIS board member Erik Røste supports the Ski Council’s decision, and says Norway’s stance is clear in Switzerland.

– These are busy days here, but no one is left untouched by the situation and the war in Ukraine. I feel so far there is understanding for the decision (to Norway), he told NRK.

Røste does not know how or if representatives of Russia and Belarus reacted to Norway. The Ski Association has stressed that they want the ban on Russian athletes to also apply to those at the political and administrative level.

– It should be discussed. “My opinion is that when you exclude athletes, there must also be consequences for the official manager,” said Røste.

– This issue will be discussed again in October. In my eyes, there is one person who holds the key to whether Russian sport will return to the spotlight: He sits in the Kremlin and his name is Vladimir Putin. As long as the brutality continues in Ukraine, I think there is no other choice but to react by force, replied Røste.

Putin opposes sports sanctions

At the same time discussions are taking place both inside and outside the FIS, Putin revealed that he has little understanding of sanctions against Russian sport.

– Aggressive sanctions aimed at our country and citizens affect many areas, including top sports. Russian athletes are deprived of the opportunity to represent their country, and Russia’s voice in international organizations is deliberately ignored.

This is what Vladimir Putin said in a letter shown during a sports seminar in Kuzbass in Siberia, according to the news agency TASS. There are a number of Russian athletes, sports profiles and politicians now gathering.

– This situation goes against the values ​​of sport, where the most important thing is mutual respect and the principle that “sport is not politics”, Putin said, adding that Russia was willing to hold international sporting events.

– The fact that he is spending time now actually shows how important sport is to him, and should be an encouragement to all those working to keep Russia and Belarus away from sport in response to the acts of war in Ukraine, Saltvedt stressed.