FK Jerv boss Arne Sandsto admits club ‘deserve’ criticism for trying to sign former Dundalk defender Sonni Nattestad

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FK JERV boss Arne Sandsto has admitted the club was wrong in agreeing to sign defender Sonni Nattestad from Dundalk.

The newly promoted Norwegian side announced the signing of the Faroe Islands defender on Sunday to a two-year contract.

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Sonni Nattestad in action for DundalkCredit: Sportsfile

But, within hours, they had announced that they had ended the deal after a public backlash.

In a statement, the club said: “Context is an issue the player has been involved in and we should have been aware of.

“The case in which Nattestad was involved is not something that we as a club can vouch for or be associated with. FK Jerv would like to apologize to everyone involved for the fact that we didn’t do a good enough job before signing.

This was seen as a reference to the fact that Nattestad did not appear as a witness at an Appeals Court hearing in February 2019 involving his former Molde teammate Babacar Sarr.

After a joint criminal and civil trial, Sarr was found not guilty in August 2018 of the criminal charge.

But he was ordered to pay his accuser compensation of € 15,000 after the court ruled in his favor on the civil action. Both parties appealed.

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The appeal hearing scheduled for February 2019 has been adjourned as Nattestad was in Denmark to play a friendly match for his new club, FC Frederica.

The day before the new court date in June of that year, it became clear that Sarr would not be showing up with Saudi Arabia’s Damac FC announcing his signing.

The Senegalese player was the subject of an international arrest warrant but Saudi Arabia does not have an extradition treaty with Norway.

Although the case was not widely known here when Nattestad joined Dundalk 12 months ago, it was a notorious affair in Norway.

Former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has come under heavy criticism for continuing to pick Sarr while awaiting trial. The couple shared an agent, Jim Solbakken.

Jerv’s announcement that Nattestad would return to play in the Elite has attracted heavy criticism.

WE DESERVE IT

And Sandstro tried to explain the circumstances under which he decided to sign the center-half before changing his mind.

Sandstro told Eurosport: “Everything is really quite simple. We are all aware of the main problem, but it is much more comprehensive than we thought.

“When we then announced that we were in dialogue with Sonni, there were good club supporters and good friends who came up with information that we had not received in our process.

“Then, as a club, we think it is not fair to continue with the deal.

“We don’t dispute that we should have known more, we should have been more in-depth.

“We haven’t done a good enough job here. You get criticism when you’ve done something wrong and we deserve it now. “

Nattesad, 27, struggled to impress during his time at Oriel Park, although he brought his total caps for the Faroe Islands to 40 while on their books.

He was sent off on his debut in the President’s Cup final against Shamrock Rovers and between absence from international service, injuries, suspensions and poor form he has only started eight of their 36 appearances. championship.

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