The teacher says: It can cost SEK 100,000
Parents commit crimes punishable by imprisonment for enrolling their children in Elite Hockey League (NIU).
Meanwhile, a former NIU coach testifies about how school places were at least once on sale.
– I know students who paid 100,000 kroner to get a place in high school.
During a review of elite hockey schools, Sportbladet revealed systematic ostracism, illegal contracts worth $1 million, and class cheating. Now, many central sources are also highlighting infractions and violations of the law also regarding admission to schools.
This is done in two stages: First, the ice hockey associations decide which students they want to enroll in training. The school then verifies that they meet the required grade criteria for each line.
But those Sportbladet spoke to attest to cheating and nepotism regarding both operations.
– I pretend there are very shady things going on here. There’s a lot to take, says the president of NIU.
Seats sold for 100,000
The manager reveals how associations arrange shade selections. They are officially called mock drills but what not all students know is that they are, at least to some extent, an illusion.
Because already in advance, a number of the men tested were told that they had already been accepted.
The NIU teacher also talks about how he was pressured into bringing in a player who wasn’t considered good enough.
– The main sponsor said he would drop out if his son didn’t come. Then they go to another club and take the money there instead.
At other times he alone had complete control over who entered and who did not.
– I think it’s more difficult today, but then I can make decisions on my own. I also know that there are people who have bought places in other schools.
How long has it been?
I know people born in 97, 98, 99, 00 who have bought seats. Then I also heard about 03 and 04, but I don’t know for sure.
What did this place cost?
Between 50,000 and 100,000 kroner.
We are also receiving information about admission to a local ice hockey high school (the so-called LIU) associated with the Elite Club as recently as last year. Then whoever is responsible for the selection has a special business agreement with a player at another club.
The result was that the boy also got into the hockey gym last year. After the club changed coaches, and playing time decreased, the boy quickly quit again.
Then there are also cases where an elite federation would like to have a student, but the player in question does not meet all the criteria. Here too, according to the visionaries, there are ways to get around the regulations.
Written on fake addresses
If a student does not meet the degree criteria, they may be placed in another program or educational location until the waiting list system is taken over by individual schools on September 15. Then it is up to each individual president to make the decision.
– The most important thing is to get them into the system. If you get them there, says a former teacher, they can then change schools and lines.
How it works?
Interaction between the club and the school. If someone ends up on the economy streak, you simply don’t advertise that place and bring someone from the reserves list, but wait until after September 15th and then move the player there instead. Then the club will be very happy and still have the same number of students as the school. It is the most common method.
But he also talks about how children are sent to fake addresses.
– If your home municipality does not have an agreement with the municipality where you will go to school, you will be a secondary applicant. But if you and a parent register in town before May, when the Norwegian School Board makes the final run on their computer, it’s straight forward recruiting. Then you can login without problems.
How do you solve it?
– The club decides that, they have apartments that they sign. Most major SHL clubs have apartments that players can rent when they arrive at the resort.
A centrally located source with a very good view points to Rögle as one of the clubs where parents signed up at fake addresses to get around admission rules.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what happened historically. In this case, it’s something that has happened before and I can’t comment on it, says Magnus Weinstrom, the newly appointed NIU director.
In addition to the fact that dealing with fake addresses can reasonably equate to fraud, since 2018, providing an incorrect civil registration address is also punishable.
Anyone convicted can be sentenced to a fine or imprisonment of up to six months. If the offense is deemed serious, a two-year prison sentence may be appropriate.
‘This happens a lot’
Sportbladet, the NIU’s principal, speaks to assure in exchange for a promise of anonymity that the municipality and the school are still working together to get around the rules.
– It often happens that municipalities do not want to sign cooperation agreements, but we have our tricks later. There are ways to overcome it.
There, too, one of the parents is required to register with the municipality. However, problems arose when one of the parents, who had forgotten to change the fake address again, suddenly became in need of medical attention.
Another school principal confirms that he has also heard discussions of this arrangement in his district.
– I’ve never tried it myself, but I’ve heard how the sports directors here in the municipality think that way. It is a way of ensuring that they end up receiving them directly.
Who have you heard talking about this?
– It’s never something that happens in public, but on the other hand, I’ve heard it’s interpreted that way among high schools, and not just in this municipality. We have a rigged educational system. Choice reform has been hit hard in Swedish schools in the past 15 years and everyone should be able to choose everything at the same time that municipalities exchange money with each other. There are always ways to get around systems.
Have you ever been pressured to go to a club meeting as a manager?
– Yes I think so.
How?
– When you are from this municipality, you realize that there are many stakeholders in elite sports. The ice hockey club here is a very strong brand, and the school is also a brand. Then ride on each other’s trademarks. It wasn’t mentioned that someone would come and say “Here we’ll make a place for someone,” but when he starts to maneuver, you somehow understand that there are forces moving. You have to deal with that.