Strong discontent with tennis manager’s Grand Slam trips and extra jobs – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and schedule

Both internally in the Norwegian Tennis Association (NTF) and in the Norwegian tennis community, the activities and travel priorities of sports manager Øindis Sørvald have become the topic of discussion.

An overview shows that Sørvald has spent a total of 28 trips on the NTF bill in 2017-2019. Four of them have been to Norway. In 2019, according to the overview NRK has seen, he wasn’t on a single domestic trip outside of the Oslo area.

– I don’t think it’s a correct priority. First of all, it is poor leadership that makes Sørvald choose to do what he wants most. If there had been good management, he would not have been allowed to do so, says coach Per Granlund of the Gjøvik Tennis Club.

NRK and TV 2 have previously mentioned turmoil and mistrust in the Norwegian tennis community aimed at the NTF leadership. Among other things, it generated strong reactions that former Secretary-General Alexander Kjær raised bonuses of over one million kroner in five years while denying financial support to the clubs.

Travel around the world

The union states that Sørvald has a salary of NOK 900,000. In addition to being head of sports in the Tennis Federation, he has several roles:

• Eurosport commentator during Grand Slam tournaments
• Viasat commentator at Masters 1000 tournaments
• Hiring of own experience in the form of private online classes
• Manages the individual tennis company Sørvald

By Thursday of this week, Sørvald will have had a private online class.

Granlund says that Sørvald has a lot of experience, but that it is used completely wrong and gives very little result. NRK knows that several representatives in Tennis-Norway perceive that the association’s follow-up is very poor. One of them is tennis coach and organizer Thomas Wettergreen.

– The main question is: “Does this benefit the development of Norwegian tennis?” Is it a development for Norwegian clubs to travel around the world? He asks.

The federation needs to be examined

In the past few days, NRK has spoken to over 30 people in the Norwegian tennis community. With them, NRK has been in contact, there is a constant dissatisfaction with Sørvald and his priorities as head of sports in the Tennis Association. Most say they do not want to speak in public because they are concerned that it may have sports or financial consequences for themselves or other family members.

Some sources say they have signed confidentiality statements with associates that prevent them from commenting. Most players and coaches boast about Sørvald’s experience. The problem, according to several, are the priorities.

NRK has requested access to Sørvald’s travel invoices for 2017-2019. They gave us an overview of the trips, but when we asked for detailed information and receipts, they rejected us as it creates too much additional work for NTF. Now they have launched an investigation and want to use the resources in it.

Øíritu Sørvald has not answered our questions about the case. Acting Secretary General Aslak Paulsen asserts that he has been authorized to respond on behalf of Sørvald.

Paulsen praises Sørvald for being competent and having a passion for tennis.

– Several have replied that Sørvald is not present, that he would prefer to be in the main international tournaments. Is there a feeling that you also have?

– Not in any way. Øindis is a tennis enthusiast out of the ordinary. Even though we, as an employer, talk to him, he is an unusual worker. It’s leisure, vacation and … This is her hobby. Very few are as Øind. His participation in Norwegian tennis is excellent. We are proud to have him on the team, says Paulsen.

According to the association, Sørvald’s trip for 2017–2019 has cost a total of NOK 281,700.

He has attended several conferences and trips where the organizer has paid in full or in part, but the total bill for the tennis association is NOK 281,700.

The union pays you while you comment

Sørvald’s job description states, among other things, that he is responsible for player development, national team coaches, sports development, and communication with club leaders, to name a few. NRK knows that both internally in the tennis association and in other parts of the tennis community, there are many who respond that it has not followed its role towards the environment in Norway.

Sørvald traveled abroad at the expense of the union 39 days in 2019 and 45 days in 2018. Several of the trips abroad have been to the so-called Grand Slams, the largest tennis tournaments in the world. In the past three years he has been to nine such tournaments. Of the nine tournaments that Sørvald has been in, Casper Ruud has participated in six of them.

– Norwegian tennis has ambitions. If we want to achieve those ambitions, we must look for performance environments to develop the competition and distribute it to Norwegian tennis, ”says Paulsen.

Such priorities are completely wrong, says Wettergreen.

– Then the union began to lose direction. The money will be used for projects in Tennis-Norway. I would rather see cases from Tromsø, Bodø, Egersund and Namsos than see cases from Melbourne, Paris, New York and London.

At Grand Slam tournaments, Sørvald has regularly participated as an NTF representative, as part of Casper Ruud’s team and as an expert commentator for Eurosport.

NRK is informed by Venke Aure, the manager of Casper Ruud, that Sørvald’s experience is used within the Casper Team and that they value it, but that NTF is their employer and manages their tasks and time.

– Sørvald is a world leader in analytics. It is an experience that is of great help to Team Casper and Norwegian tennis in general, Aure writes in an email.

More commentator jobs

The tennis association summary shows, among other things, that Sørvald was at the US Open in New York until August 30. After that, he returned to the United States and participated in Eurosport streams until the end of the tournament on September 8, which is not included in the recap.

The tennis association confirms that Sørvald does not say goodbye when he works as a commentator, but they note that he spends much of his free time in tennis.

The Secretary General defends the scheme.

– We know that when people watch tennis on television, many people are interested in tennis and want to start playing it. So it is clear that we must have a close relationship with the media. When it comes to Øind and Eurosport, Øind is someone who lives and breathes tennis. It is problematic for me that he has a relationship with Eurosport, which is a huge contributor to tennis appearing on Norwegian screens, says Paulsen.

Discovery, the owner of Eurosport, declines to comment on the specific content of the contract with Sørvald.

– We have played with completely open cards about the various roles of Øindis Sørvald, and we are aware of this problem. We have been open to viewers about their various roles in our broadcasts, and our assessment is that Øindis Sørvald is Norway’s leading tennis expert, and gives broadcasts something that no one else can. I assume NRK and CMore made a similar assessment when they chose to use Øindis Sørvald as an expert in the past, says Morten Johannessen on Discovery.

Sørvald was occasionally used as an expert when NRK had the Wimbledon rights, but has had no agreement with NRK for several years.

He has commented for Viasat for the past two years, where he has worked about ten weekends a year in connection with the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.

– The priorities should be in the Norwegian clubs. That’s the most interesting thing about Norwegian tennis, says Wettergreen.

Wettergreen has also made a critical statement about Sørvald’s international travel to Dagbladet.

Travel more than Swedes

Australian Phil Atkinson has been involved in international tennis for 20 years. He was Secretary General of the NTF before Alexander Kjær, and was on the job for seven months before agreeing with the Tennis Federation to end the employment relationship. Atkinson explains to NRK that he considers Øindis Sørvald’s priorities to be strange and that he finds it difficult to understand how all foreign trips to Sørvald can benefit Norwegian tennis.

– Considering that clubs are basically paying Sørvald’s salary, it’s disturbing to think that he spends so much time in Grand Slam tournaments. How many times have Sørvald visited clubs outside of Oslo with a clear agenda to help and develop them? Atkinson asks.

He feels that NTF reps, and especially sports manager Øindis Sørvald, are much more in Grand Slam tournaments than reps from other national tennis associations. Atkinson says that when he was a national coach in the Dutch federation, there were often between eight and twelve Dutch players in the qualifying and main tournament in the Grand Slam, but that only national coaches and a market manager were present in the Dutch federation.

NRK has been in contact with the Swedish and Danish Tennis Federation about their travel activities in connection with Grand Slam tournaments.

– What we have been to the Grand Slam in 2018 and 2019 is Roland Garros (Paris, ed.) And Wimbledon (London). So me, the president, or both of us have been there for a few days, says Secretary General Christer Sjöö of the Swedish Tennis Federation.

The Danish federation has had a player on top of the world during this period. For example, Caroline Wozniacki won the Australian Open in 2018. In addition, Denmark has had several athletes in youth finals during the period.

The Danish Association informs NRK that they have had representatives from seven of the eight Grand Slams in the past two years. Association communications manager Thomas Hansen says the sports manager’s travel time depends on how long junior players have been in the tournament (junior tournaments last a week), but that reps are not there throughout the tournament.