Statement from the Board of the County Football League

Due to the rude comments made by KR coach Rúnar Kristinsson in interviews on Stöð 2 and fótbola.net after the KR-Fylkis game last Sunday, we would like to make the following known

We were deeply shocked when the KR coach made unprecedented slanderous remarks about Fylki's player, Ólafur Inga Skúlason, and accused the player and the team of repeatedly cheating and swindling over time in interviews after the teams' matches. More unfortunate and extremely shameless words were uttered that will not be repeated here but are known to the nation and are a great shame to him and the KR club.

It is fair to say that it is part of the game to disagree about incidents in games or the performance of players and referees and to have strong opinions about them. The comments in question, however, were extremely personal defamations that, in the opinion of us, the Fylkis, went far beyond the limits of decency that are natural to set both to protect players and match officials. Such limits are no less important to maintain the respect of the game and to show responsibility to the outside world by those who are strong role models for many, not least children and young people.

We at the County Football Association have had a great fondness for Rúnar Kristinsson, who has had an exceptionally impressive football career with both club and national teams, where he has often acted with dignity. As a coach, he has also often appeared well in the media and has been objective, disciplined and moderate. For these reasons, it hurts even more that he should make these blatantly false and hurtful comments about our player and team, as he is listened to and taken into account.

However, it remains that most of the impartial experts who have commented on the incident in question agree that the referee's decision was correct. Furthermore, no one has accepted the coach's comments about dishonesty and cheating on the part of the player in question, nor have any examples been presented to support these comments. However, there are recent examples where Rúnar praised his player after the player admitted to having "fished" another player off the field with acting. Rúnar's aforementioned comments speak for themselves. The truth is, as everyone who knows him knows, that Ólafur Ingi Skúlason is a great player and personality both on and off the field, who has an impressive career behind him with both club teams and the Icelandic national team. He may be a stickler on the field, but he is far from being a dishonest player or a cheat.

The management of Fylki has always made an effort to have a good collaboration with KR and it has usually worked out. Their supporters are unique and we always look forward to their arrival in Árbæinn. It is, however, unfortunate that KR has not seen any reason to apologize or in any other way to cover their weapons. With this, this superpower in Icelandic football is setting new standards of conduct and communication.

We, the Fylkismenn, have decided to put this issue back before us with this statement and will instead focus on the game itself and the many tasks that these unprecedented times have placed on the sports movement. In this way, we best contribute to the strong work of the Fylkis football department in both the men's and women's championships and in the junior categories, where we will continue to emphasize tact on and off the field.

In light of the above, the board of the County Football League has decided not to file a complaint with the KSÍ Disciplinary and Appeals Committee regarding the coach's comments, but instead leave it to KSÍ to consider this matter with the aim of safeguarding the ethics of Icelandic football and setting limits to the discussion.

This matter is hereby closed on our part.

On behalf of the County Football League

Kjartan Danielsson

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