Swedish champion is not allowed to compete on the national team after this SVT interview – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

– I have a lot on my mind, but I don’t know what I will get or what I can say. To be able to speak completely openly, there must be something that protects me, says a frustrated Josef Alami to NRK.

It has boiled in the Swedish sports environment and around the 21-year-old in the last period.

In March, he became Swedish champion in taekwondo for the seventh time, and just one month later, the Swedish Taekwondo Association (STU) decided to kick Alami out of the national team for a year.

The reason: A live interview he did with SVT after a match he emerged victorious from in March, where he went down the throat of his own national team management.

– We have a very poor national team management, which does not take care of the athletes at all. When you go to a championship, you are forced to pay for travel and national team clothes yourself, Alami said on the SVT broadcast in March.

The ban came like lightning from the blue, according to Alami. He tells NRK that he did not receive any advance notice or was allowed to take part in the process that led to the ban.

– I am sick of this whole arrangement. It is a very stressful situation. I don’t want to do anything wrong now. I have three siblings who all do taekwondo, I don’t want it to have consequences for them too, says Alami.

– I am considering quitting, continues the 21-year-old.

See the interview that got Josef Alami kicked out of the national team at the top of the story.

Had to lift the ban – still punished

STU has had to endure a lot of criticism after the treatment they have given Alami. In response, the association claimed that they had issued several warnings against the athlete in the past.

– Josef has previously shown unacceptable behaviour, including leaving the team during the European Games without notifying the managers, illegally taking national team clothes intended for others, and his refusal to be photographed with the Swedish flag, which he controversially compared to the IS flag in verbal communications, the association wrote in a press release.

The performer himself denies having received any warnings.

– It is not true. All the accusations they have against me are false. I have asked for proof, but they have not proved anything, says Alami about the accusations.

– I represent Sweden proudly. I pay from my own pocket to represent Sweden. If they look at me like that, it just hurts, he continues.

STU has later apologized that they expressed themselves carelessly.

The association has also had to lift the ban due to formal errors. The disciplinary case against Alami will again be taken up by the board.

Nevertheless, he is not selected for upcoming meetings and Alami loses the European Championship with it.

NRK interviewed Alami only a few hours before the eviction was lifted.

Fresia Perez, president of STU, still believes that they have made the right decision not to let him participate in the European championship.

– There has been quite a bit of history in this case. It has made us confident in not taking him out to the national team. Then the wording itself was wrong on our part, but it’s fixed, says Perez in an interview with SVT.

– If you have freedom of speech, then you must have freedom of speech

Richard Ordemann, who is Norway’s foremost taekwondo practitioner, has caught up with the commotion in Sweden.

– If you have freedom of speech, then you must have freedom of speech. You should not be punished for having an opinion. It should be okay to be dissatisfied, says Ordemann to NRK.

– It wasn’t that bad what he said, so the fact that he is thrown out is strange, he says further.

Ordemann will represent Norway in taekwondo during the Summer Olympics in Paris. He thinks it is terribly unfortunate that Alami is not allowed to participate in the EC.

– Competing in the EC is a fantastic experience to take with him further, regardless of the result he should have got, concludes Ordemann.

Reviews the taekwondo association

The seven-time Swedish champion has chosen to report the association and president Perez to the disciplinary committee and the Swedish Sports Confederation.

– STU has not only undermined my reputation and career, but also confidence in the integrity and fairness of sport, says Alami.

The president does not wish to comment on the report.

– What will it take for him to be selected for the national team in the future?

– What we have said is that we expect people to stick to the rules. We have worked a lot to change the culture throughout the business and have suspended people in other types of positions, says Perez.