Six National Soccer Team Members Accused of Offenses

Coach Arnar Þór Viðarsson and assistant manager of the team, …

Coach Arnar Þór Viðarsson and assistant manager of the team, Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen, the two on the left in the photo, were not able to select all the players they wanted to be on the team. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson

Vala Hafstað

Morgunblaðið’s sources report that the coach of the Icelandic men’s national soccer team, Arnar Þór Viðarsson, was unable to select all the players he wanted to be on the team for recent games against Armenia and Liechtenstein in the preliminary games for the FIFA World Cup.

September 27, the Football Association of Iceland, KSÍ, received an email from the activist group Öfgar, the content of which was classified as confidential at the KSÍ’s board meeting on September 30.

The following day, Arnar Þór announced which players had been selected for those two games, which took place October 8 and 11 at Laugardalsvöllur soccer stadium. Many key players, who have been on the team for years, were not among them.

Among other things, the email from Öfgar included the names of six national team members and the dates of their alleged sexual offenses and violent offenses, Morgunblaðið’s sources state.

Three of those six — Aron Einar Gunnarsson, Kolbeinn Sigþórsson and Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson — have all been mentioned by name in Icelandic media in connection with alleged offenses, while the other three haven’t. All of them have been members of the national team for the past decade and have played numerous national games for Iceland.

The national team members’ case is currently being examined by Sigurbjörg Sigurpálsdóttir, sports and youth communications consultant for the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland, ÍSÍ. The communications consultant works independently, assisting  individuals who believe they have been the victims of violence or injustice in sports or youth activities. While ÍSÍ examines the case, the six aforementioned players will not be eligible for the national team, Morgunblaðið’s sources state.

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