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The trial begins on Monday against a 29-year-old football referee from Bergen who is
accused of exploitation and abuse of 27 minors.
It is said that he came into contact with several of the victims through his position as judge. Among the boys, there will be several footballers and referees.
The man has umpired in both soccer and other sports across the country, and is also said to have conducted courses and tracked young umpires.
– I didn’t know anything until after the arrest.
The 29-year-old defendant was arrested on July 8, 2019 and subsequently placed in preventive detention.
But already in the summer of 2018, the NFF received a warning of concern related to the referee’s behavior. The announcement reached the Hordaland football club.
But the referee’s own club was never notified. They react strongly to the fact that they heard nothing from the football community in 2018.
– I did not know about this before the police called me for questioning a few weeks after the person was arrested in July 2019, says the club president.
NRK has chosen not to identify the club out of consideration for those involved in the case.
Both the president of the board and the rest of the club reacted with shock when they found out what the 29-year-old was accused of.
The football referee has been at the club for a long time and was very confident. He is described as a passionate and “yes-man” who was very committed.
NOTICE: In 2018, a notification was sent to NFF here at Idrettens Hus in Bergen. The warning should have consequences, believes the referee club.
Photo: Alrik Velsvik / NRK
You think the NFF should have stopped the referee
The football club is said to have had a total of three conversations of concern with the referee after receiving several warnings about inappropriate behavior.
After the last conversation, the NFF went under review, leading to the 29-year-old’s arrest.
The president of the board is despairing because the 29-year-old was not detained earlier.
– In hindsight, it became known that the football club had already been notified in 2018. We reacted very strongly to that. The warning was of such a nature that they should have done something to stop it, says the chairman of the board.
– Our club is a sports club for children. We didn’t get a single sign that we needed to be a little more careful, and this was allowed to continue for another year. I think it’s scary, says the club president.
REPORTED: Police Prosecutor Christine Møen Wisløff and Chief Investigator Andreas Lervik in the West Police District reported the case at a press conference at the Bergen Police Station on August 15 last year.
Photo: Marit Hommedal / NTB
NFF: – It is not natural to go to the police in 2018
The general manager of NFF Hordaland, also known as Hordaland football club, Knut Berge, has previously said that the man had produced an impeccable police certificate.
He believes that the circuit cannot be charged because the police were not involved before.
– The conditions that we learned about from the first warnings in 2018 were not of such a nature that it seemed natural to us to go to the police. Nor do we experience that the complainant did so. However, the judge now accused was called to the mat and received very clear comments from the circuit. However, the new and other conditions that we encountered in June 2019 meant that we immediately went to the police, Berge says in a written statement to NRK.
– As far as we know, the circumstances in the notification we received in 2018 are not part of the accusation against the judge. However, it is the circumstances that we learned about in 2019 that started us immediately going to the police, Berge continues.
When asked why the club the 29-year-old belonged to didn’t know about in 2018, he answers the following:
– Of course, it was evaluated who we should inform. However, based on the information we received in August 2018, we came to the conclusion that there was then no basis or correct to involve more. But we have respect for the fact that the club thinks we should have handled it differently.
– SERIOUS: The director general of the Norwegian Hordaland Football Association, Knut Berge, has previously called the matter serious, but believes that they should not do more in 2018.
Photo: Anette berentsen / NRK
Acknowledge criminal guilt for abuse
The prosecutor in the case, police attorney Christine Møen Wisløff, does not want to comment on how the football club handled the case.
The 29-year-old has been in custody since the arrest because police and the court believe there is a danger of it happening again.
During questioning, he is said to have pleaded guilty to eight of the twelve elements of the charge.
According to prosecutor Wisløff, the man disputes three of the points and says he does not remember anything about a fourth. The police have also withdrawn several cases due to the position of the evidence or because the cases are out of date.
– The defendant has cooperated well with the police and therefore we can let the case last only a week and without testimony, says Wisløff.
Defender: – Will make up for it
According to his defender, the Bergen man has laid the cards on the table. It must also have acknowledged responsibility, if the district court decided that victims are entitled to it.
– You are concerned about compensating you and would like to undo these actions, says the football referee’s defender, lawyer Bertil Christian Hast Rønnestad.
