"This is unacceptable"

Big bang! Norway admits to cheating

Norway's sports director Jan Erik Aalbu (right) admitted to cheating at the World Championships.

(Bild: TERJE PEDERSEN)

In the manipulation scandal surrounding illegally modified ski jumping suits at the Nordic World Championships in Trondheim, the Norwegian Ski Association has admitted to its own fraudulent actions. Sports Director Jan-Erik Aalbu said this at a press conference on the final day of the title competitions on Sunday.

The day before, three Norwegians had been disqualified in the large hill competition, normal hill world champion Marius Lindvik lost his silver medal, which was inherited by Jan Hörl from Salzburg. "We have cheated. We tried to cheat the system. That is unacceptable. We have disappointed all ski jumping fans, including ourselves. I would like to apologize to the other teams, the jumpers, the sponsors and the fans. We will get to the bottom of it," said Aalbu at the team hotel. However, he emphasized that it was only about the two suits worn by Lindvik and Johann André Forfang at the large hill competition on Saturday. He himself had no knowledge of the practices and only found out about them on Sunday morning.

Jan-Erik Aalbu

(Bild: TERJE PEDERSEN)

Aalbu left the personal consequences open. He did not want to name those responsible. Head coach Magnus Brevig, who was seen in the manipulation video, was absent from the press conference. He is said to have already been on his way to Oslo. "I have no control over what Magnus Brevig did last night," Aalbu replied to a question from VG.

ÖSV finds statements unbelievable
ÖSV Managing Director Christian Scherer sharply criticized Aalbu's performance. "There was zero insight. It was very strange, arrogant and not very credible. He gave no answers to the essential and most obvious questions. And it culminated in the fact that he only claimed to have found out about it today," said Scherer and called for immediate personnel consequences in the APA interview. "This arrogance should be punished. If someone doesn't have their discipline under control, then they are ready to resign. The Norwegian Ski Association would be well advised to suspend all those responsible in the team during the internal investigations until further notice, in the interests of all those involved, above all the athletes."

The fact that Aalbu wants to lead the internal investigation himself is unacceptable for Scherer. "An external commission is needed immediately." He was equally annoyed by the absence of the Norwegian federation leadership and the head coach from the public statement. This was disrespectful to everyone involved. The fact that the Norwegian co-responsible parties will be present again in the same functions at the World Cup in Oslo in a few days' time is also a no-go for Scherer. "How do the other athletes feel when the same people who have demonstrably cheated will continue to compete on the ski jumps," said Scherer. He also emphasized that the ÖSV insists that all combined competitions at the World Championships are included in the announced investigations.

ÖSV Managing Director Christian Scherer

(Bild: GEPA)

Results annulment demanded
The ÖSV continued to insist on the annulment of all Norwegian results on the ski jumps. "Our protest was aimed at having the entire World Championship results of the Norwegians in ski jumping and Nordic combined annulled. We stand by that," emphasized ÖSV Sports Director Mario Stecher in an APA interview. "If this happens to one suit, then it is certainly feasible for the entire team. This suspicion has already been substantiated and needs to be investigated."

ÖSV President Roswitha Stadlober called the cheating "unbelievable" and also addressed possible disqualifications afterwards. "Of course, we doubt that it only happened on this one day. No one should be held under general suspicion, but the suspicion is obvious. It's now up to the FIS to work through this," she said on ORF.

After several secretly recorded videos emerged from the Norwegians' suit tailoring shop, in which it can be seen how suits were manipulated at night in the presence of Brevig, the ÖSV, together with Slovenia and Poland, submitted a protest to the FIS. "That was definitely the right way to go," said Stecher. Now the matter must be investigated, and Scherer is also in constant contact with the FIS. "It's not right for the Norwegians to give themselves an advantage," explained Stecher.

FIS investigates
 The FIS had previously announced that an independent ethics and compliance department of the world federation would conduct an investigation. The circumstances surrounding the disqualifications of Lindvik and Forfang as well as the combined athlete Jörgen Graabak, who was excluded from the bronze medal in the team competition on Friday due to an illegal ski jumping binding, will be examined in more detail. The department also wants to investigate the circumstances of how the athletes' material was presented at the FIS controls.

FIS Secretary General Michel Vion emphasized that the investigation process is only just beginning and could take months. The world federation could also check all suits for each individual jump retrospectively due to sewn-in chips, he said. Should further offenses come to light, disqualifications and therefore changes to the medal winners could not be ruled out. "That's a different story. Then there will be further penalties after the investigations. These could also be disqualifications."

Organizers unimpressed on the final day
In any case, the organizers of the title fights in Norway were unimpressed by the suit scandal. "There is absolutely no shadow over the World Championships. We have celebrated a two-week festival here," said World Championships organizer Age Skinstad on Sunday morning when asked by APA. The issue concerns the Norwegian Ski Association, the jury and the FIS. "We are looking at what we have created here, like the 18,000 fans at the ski jumping on Saturday who celebrated the good performance. That is the important point for us."