New details about the staff chaos in the ski association

In just over two years, five key people have left or been forced out of the Swedish Ski Association's length department.

The most recent was length manager Daniel Fåhraeus, who announced in June that he was leaving.

Now, TT has been in contact with several people with good insight into the turbulence of recent years, which began in March 2019.

In the evaluation with skiers and leaders after the season, national team manager Rikard Grip received criticism.

Shortly afterwards, the ski association announced that Grip - who for ten years led Sweden to 35 championship medals - quit at his own request when his contract expired.

But according to TT's information, the order came to terminate Grip's employment from the union management.

Had to carry out the order

The then length manager Johan Sares has always denied the information, but today it sounds different.

- How do I explain this?

It becomes sensitive.

But if I were to say this: If Rikard Grip had not been given an extended contract - if that were the case - I would never have been able to make such a decision myself.

The train schedule within the Swedish Ski Association is the grandfather principle.

That my decisions must be anchored upwards in order for me to be able to implement them.

I had a role at the ski association that I received an order and had to carry it out, he tells TT.

Federal Director Ola Strömberg, however, gives a different picture when it comes to the decision-making process:

- We do not have the leadership where we in the management go in and decide what our managers should do at the level of detail.

We support their decision, says Strömberg.

Felt no confidence

Two months later, in May 2019, Johan Sares chose to resign.

Now Sares reveals that the decision was partly due to the fact that he did not feel that he had Ola Strömberg's confidence.

- I had been there for so long and felt ready, at the same time I felt that you did not have one hundred percent support.

Then the decision became quite easy to make, says Sares.

However, it did not take long before new turbulence arose in the national team.

This when it became known that Ola Strömberg had made new contact with Rikard Grip about the possibilities for the former national team manager to return - despite the fact that he was fired earlier in the season.

Rikard Grip is speechless when TT asks about the conversations with Ola Strömberg:

- Yes, we had heard on a few occasions.

We did that during the summer as well.

What those dialogues were about is not something I want to comment on, says Grip.

"Not many who have the whole picture"

In addition to Rikard Grip, Johan Sares and Daniel Fåhraeus, Jonas Peterson and Urban Nilsson have also left their assignments.

Peterson, who became the new length manager after Grip, was fired after only four months due to a conflict with the wall team.

Prior to that, Urban Nilsson had chosen to resign as election manager after eight years.

Ola Strömberg states that "sometimes you have different views".

TT: During the last two years, several people have criticized you and the ski association for how different personnel matters have been handled?

- I can understand why people have opinions about things you do not have the whole background to. But when you are in the situation, you make decisions that you think are the best for Swedish skiing, in the long run. Not many people have the whole picture. Then I do not want to comment on things that happened two years ago. These are history and personnel matters we do not talk about externally, says Strömberg.