The Statement Aalbu Made At The Start Of The Press Conference:

The statement Aalbu made at the start of the press conference:

Through the night and so far today, we have done what we can to figure out what happened yesterday. What I know so far, is:

The support staff has explained that they on Friday, chose to sew an enforced thread into the suits of Forfang and Lindvik. This was done knowing that it was against the rules, but with a belief that it would not be discovered by the FIS equipment control.

The support staff rationalized this by saying that everyone pushes the limits. We have not uncovered any indication that this form of manipulation has been used earlier in the season, or earlier in this championship. It is important to me to be clear, I have been through this with the support staff through the night and the day so far, and this was "only", if one can use that word, two suits for the competition on Saturday, and nothing earlier in the championship.

The way I see this: We have cheated. We have attempted to fool the system. That is unacceptable. i still have a lot of unanswered questions that I have to get to the bottom of in the next few days. I have not been able to talk to the athletes. I will do so tonight or tomorrow. That FIS is now opening an investigation, is something I welcome. And we will of course cooperate with them fully.

This matter will have consequences. It is to early to say exactly which consequences. I also have to follow the rules of Norwegian employment law.

I also want to sincerely apologize for being so categorical last night. At that time I unfortunately did not know better. This reveal is a shock to me also. Knowingly manipulating equipment, and cheating, goes against everything I stand for.

I want to use this opportunity to stress the seriousness of this matter. We have cheated. And in doing so we have disappointed everyone who loves ski jumping. Including ourselves. I want to apologize on behalf of Norwegian ski jumping to: The other nations, the audience, everyone who has been in the arena, FIS and the championship organisers. And not least, to all of our supporters and sponsors. We will contribute with the necessary resources in the further investigation. We are going to get to the bottom of this.