– It means everything – VG

– Oh thank God. That means everything for Norwegian hockey, in fact. If they hadn’t listened to us on the appeal, which all the clubs supported, we would have to start over. So it could have been four or five clubs that had come up with an alternative solution, Stavanger Oilers owner Tore Christiansen tells VG.

He’s in the garden when he gets to convey the message that Hockey-Norway has fought so hard for: Regulations for the so-called “Crisis Package 4” for sports and volunteering will continue to compensate for events that are canceled as a result of the crown restrictions of The authorities.

That after the original regulations for the new compensation package, it was proposed to move away from this beginning of the New Year, and not to compensate for canceled events, but to plan to stimulate the holding of events.

Since then, among other things, the Fjordkraft league has been put on hiatus following extensive outbreaks at various clubs, in addition to the authorities recommending an end point in the best sports.

Christiansen has made it clear that the Fjordkraft league as a whole would suffer monumentally if the canceled events compensation plan was not continued, and says the sun rose a few steps with the news that this is happening.

– On behalf of our colleagues in other sports, this goes to show how strong the sport is. At the same time, this shows that the authorities put words behind the action. All credit to those who have listened to us, and all credit to the sport that has held together, he says.

Will continue to stimulate

Hockey-Norway joined forces in a call to change the regulations, and Minister of Culture and Gender Equality Abid Raja (V) thanks the sport for their consultation proposals, while praising the sport for its cooperation.

He is pleased to announce now that the familiar pattern from previous crisis packages will be continued.

– As long as we have government requirements, we will also present financial packages, Raja tells VG.

The regulations for the latest crisis package were clear that the purpose was to stimulate the implementation of events and were drafted before Christmas. Since then, the infection situation has changed dramatically and the authorities recommended stopping high-level sports after the outbreak of the English mutation virus.

– We want to emphasize that the objective of the scheme continues to be to encourage events of national value to be held. But with the contagion situation that we have had earlier this year, it was necessary to create a cancellation system that provides sufficient security and is simple and clear for both the applicant and the manager, says Raja.

He adds that the new scheme will also have retroactive effect until January 1, when the previous crisis package expired. The government has presented plans to compensate sports and volunteering for a total of NOK 1.4 billion through August inclusive, but the Storting has yet to approve the last 300 million.

The scheme will be submitted shortly to the EEA inspection body, ESA, for approval, and only when it is in force can the scheme be determined. They have not been an obstacle to previous crisis packages.

Some parties are more important

Raja has spoken with hockey president Tage Pettersen, who is also sitting at the Storting for his government colleague Høyre, about the change in regulations. Pettersen repeats Christiansen: It would have been a disaster for hockey if they didn’t receive compensation for canceled events.

– It was absolutely crucial, otherwise several of our clubs would have been ruined. For this reason, we have had it very clear from the clubs, but also from the association. In parallel, we have worked well with the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF), says Pettersen.

It adds that it understands that the original regulation was as it was, as Norway was “in a completely different place” in terms of infection when it was drafted.

– It was a very good start on Saturday to wake me up with such a message. Some games are more important than others, this was a lot of fun, says Pettersen.