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DISAPPOINTED: Norway captain Martin Ødegaard, Stefan Johansen and Joshua King say in a press release that they are very disappointed that authorities are forcing them to stay home. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum
The Norwegian men’s soccer team will not travel to Romania to play a Nations League match on Sunday. It makes the Norwegian stars rage.
– We are very disappointed that the authorities force us to stay at home. The other 54 UEFA nations play international matches this week, except for Norway. This is very devastating for the national team’s short and long-term ambitions, say Stefan Johansen, Martin Ødegaard and Joshua King in a Press release by NFF.
There, the NFF confirms what UEFA announced in an email to VG on Saturday night: the game against Romania on Sunday night is canceled.
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– NFF believes that we can travel within the regulations. The Norwegian government says no to this. We do not agree with that, but of course we cannot challenge the government, says soccer president Terje Svendsen in the press release.
“The NFF’s assessment is that the covid-19 regulations have not taken into account the situation that has arisen in the national team squad,” it is further stated.
The background is that the captain of the national team, Omar Elabdellaoui, tested positive for the corona virus on Friday, and that the rest of the Norwegian squad had to be in immediate quarantine.
STAY HOME: Erling Braut Haaland, Leo Skiri Østigård and the rest of the Norwegian national team will not play Nations League matches against Romania. Photo: Bjørn S. Delebekk
“Terrible night”
The group of players also thinks it’s strange that they can now go their separate ways with scheduled flights.
– We will now travel home on the scheduled flight tomorrow. The Norwegian authorities accept this, while saying no to us traveling in quarantine separately from everyone else on charter flights to Romania, says the team of captains of the national team, consisting of Ødegaard, Johansen and King.
The Norwegian Sports Confederation, on the other hand, writes in a press release on its website that it supports the decision to cancel the match.
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The general secretary of the Norwegian Football Association, Pål Bjerketvedt, calls it a “terrible night”.
– They have put us in a position that hardly any other UEFA nation has ever been in, he tells VG, adding that they had no other choice as the situation developed.
– I cannot go into details in the process, but it has been a single working day from morning to night, with involvement at all levels in this case.
This was not a jubilant night in Romania either.
– It’s a strange situation. We do not celebrate. No way. It would have been much better to win on the field, if it had been possible, says the technical director of the Romanian Football Association, Mihai Stoichita, in a statement.
Work with national emergency teams
The Norwegian Football Association informed VG on Saturday night that they are now working with a possible new team for the game planned for Wednesday against Austria.
– We are trying to find an alternative. It is too early to say if there will be any. We’ll be working on it early tomorrow, but it will be later in the day before we can say more about it. Support staff and training equipment are part of that process, Bjerketvedt tells VG.
But it’s not just Norway’s quarantine that stands in the way of that fight. The Austrian authorities are in the process of carrying out a total shutdown, which means that the international match was already in danger.
In the email from UEFA on Saturday night, they write that the disciplinary committee will now analyze the outcome of Romania’s cancellation. This probably means that Romania gets the victory on the walk (3-0). If the UEFA committee concludes that it is not the “fault” of the NFF that the match could not be played, it can be decided in a draw.
– The match cannot be postponed as there are no dates available. If we do not meet, there is a high probability that the disciplinary committee will judge the losses 0-3. We also run the risk of being held financially responsible for costs related to the match. At the top, we may risk a financial withdrawal as UEFA loses revenue, competition director Nils Fisketjønn told NFF to VG ahead of Saturday’s confirmation.
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Norwegian players have always said they want to play the game.
– The entire group of players is deeply desperate because the Norwegian authorities refuse us to travel to the two decisive matches of the League of Nations against Romania and Austria, it is stated in a joint statement published on the website of the Football Association.
