This became clear when the election committee presented its recommendations on Wednesday.

Chairman of the Selection Committee, Terje Roel, among other things, highlighted Elsafadi’s commitment to the underprivileged young generation when justifying the choice of the former basketball player.

– Marco knows a lot about the role of sport for inclusion and engagement. He has the speed of several authority-appointed committees, Roel said, among others.

He stated that the election committee unanimously supported Elsafadi’s candidacy.

Notification case

Elsafadi, 46, recently became a party to a much-discussed whistleblowing case at the Norwegian Sports Confederation.

Elsafadi was warned not to get involved in the heated case as the sports association had already spent more than NOK 1.4 million plus VAT on the death penalty. During his trip, the former basketball player leveled harsh criticism at the incumbent sports president, Berit Kjøll.

On Wednesday, the NIF board issued two statements regarding the notification case. Firstly, all parties, including Norwegian sport, accepted an apology for the tension and harm caused by this case.

[ Al-Samarai innstilt som ny idrettspresident – delt valgkomité vraket Kjøll ]

Accept criticism

In the second statement, the public criticism leveled against the sports president recently was called unacceptable.

It cannot be interpreted other than statement number two which was addressed to council member Elsafadi.

“The sports council believes that statements in the media of a negative nature towards the sports president and other parties are regrettable. This is not suitable for creating a climate of constructive cooperation and addressing challenging issues,” wrote the council of which Elsafadi himself is a part.

[ Elsafadi beskylder idrettspresident Kjøll for løgn: – Hun bør gå umiddelbart ]