The reason for the Norwegian crisis is that Antidoping Norway (ADNO) has not drug-tested young people between the ages of 15 and 18 in recent years, as since 2019 they are not allowed to be drug-tested without parental permission, according to Norwegian law.
This is against the rules of the international anti-doping organization WADA.
Norway is now at risk of being excluded from all championships as early as the turn of the year.
After NRK's disclosure, they come up with new information which claims that the Norwegian Sports Confederation has known about the problem for three years.
Joint letter 2019
In May 2019, the Norwegian sports federation NIF and Antidoping Norway sent a letter to the Ministry of Culture asking for clarification regarding doping testing of people under 18 without parental consent.
The letter was signed by, among others, Karen Kvalevåg, the Swedish Sports Confederation's then general secretary.
In the letter to the Ministry of Culture - which was written just over three years ago - it was stated, among other things, that the National Sports Confederation and ADNO "refer to previous dialogue on access to doping tests for minors".
Kjöll did not inform
On Tuesday, it emerged that sports president Berit Kjöll had neither informed the special sports federations nor the sports board about the anti-doping crisis, before NRK's disclosure last week.
However, Kjöll believes that they only became aware of the consequences in June this year, i.e. three years after they actually found out about the problem.
"We became aware of Antidoping Norway's assessment of possible consequences in connection with when our joint letter was written to the Ministry of Culture, in June 2022," writes Berit Kjöll in an email to NRK.
Norwegian law change is required
Now a law change is needed to be able to participate in or arrange championships.
"The Norwegian Sports Confederation supports Antidoping Norway's desire for a law change that ensures access to doping tests of our athletes in line with WADA's regulations," writes Kjøll.
From the archive: Therese Johaug tests positive for doping (4 March 2022)
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Therese Johaug tested positive for doping in 2016. Photo: Bildbyrån