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The Football Nations League game between Romania and Norway, scheduled for Sunday, was canceled on Saturday night. His country’s health authorities banned Scandinavians from making the trip to Bucharest because on Thursday a crown test by right-back Omar Elabdellaoui came back positive. Therefore, for the time being at least, a ten-day quarantine was imposed on the team and its support staff.
It was not initially clear what effect this development will have on the Norwegians’ appearance on Wednesday at the Happel Stadium in Vienna against the ÖFB team. This game is about winning the group. UEFA and the Norwegian Association (NFF) only confirmed the cancellation of the Romania match, the Austria match was not mentioned by either party.
Now the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body will deal with the case. Romania is sure to receive all three points. However, even if the Austrian wins over Northern Ireland on Sunday, the Norwegians still have a chance of taking first place, provided the match can be played in the Prater. With two laps to go, Austria is in the lead, ahead of the Norwegians with equal points.
“I can’t challenge the government”
NFF President Terje Svendsen was disappointed by a statement posted on the association’s website. “The Norwegian Association believes that we can travel and comply with the regulations. The Norwegian government says no to that. We don’t think so, but of course we can’t ignore the government, ”Svendsen was quoted as saying.
He also said: “The other 54 UEFA national associations, except Norway, are playing international matches this week. That is diametrically opposed to the short and long term ambitions of our national team. The consequences of no-show are both sporting and financial. We are weakening our reputation in European football. “
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Open letter from the trio of players
Norwegian captains Martin Ödegaard, Joshua King and Stefan Johansen had already written an open letter to the public on the NFF website. The team was “deeply desperate” over the cancellation threats, the trio wrote. According to information provided by the three players, the charter to Bucharest was already loaded on Saturday and the flight was canceled an hour before takeoff. The team has not trained since Thursday.
The Romanian association has agreed to play the game. You also follow all the guidelines. “We live in quarantine in the hotel, we wear masks, we have regular fever measurements, our own dining room and meeting room, in which distances are kept and we separate ourselves from other people. Our own crown doctor accompanies us throughout the course ”, reported the captains.
The prospect of having a chance to win the group is extremely disappointing. “We have worked hard for four years to optimize our chances of qualifying for the World Cup. We have added more than 40 places in the world ranking. We can move up to the highest league in the Nations League and compete with the best teams in Europe. We can still make it to the top 20 European teams and then we would be in the second pot in the World Cup qualifying draw. If we don’t play Romania and Austria, our sporting ambitions can quickly be thwarted in the short and long term, ”Ödegaard, King and Johansen wrote.
