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Just hours before Norway faced Israel in a private international match in Ullevaal, the match was canceled due to the crown situation.
Israeli striker Munas Dabbur, who plays for Hoffenheim on a daily basis, passed a positive corona test upon arrival and is isolated.
General Secretary Pål Bjerketvedt of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) says there was disappointment and frustration on the Israeli field when the message got through.
– Especially since the cancellation came so late. Both teams were in battle mode when this happened. The reception was not characterized by emotion, so to speak, Bjerketvedt tells TV 2.
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The head of communications for the Israel Football Association, Shlomi Barzel, told Sport 5 television channel, played by Dagbladet, that they will demand NOK 850,000 from the Norwegian Football Association to cover their travel expenses.
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– We lose some small revenue and also save some event related costs, but it is natural that we take responsibility for paying the costs of the round trip charter flight to Israel. We have already announced it, says Secretary General Bjerketvedt.
Bjerketvedt estimates that it will cost the NFF just over half a million crowns.
The Secretary General does not expect sanctions from the European Football Federation (UEFA) as a result of the cancellation.
– I have seen that there have been discussions in the media that we lose revenue if we cancel matches, but there is not a single match that causes a loss of revenue. The deal is for 40 international matches over four years, he says.
– Risk of transmitting the infection
The director of the Norwegian Health Directorate, Bjørn Guldvog, says that they made their recommendation to cancel because there is a certain risk that more than Munas Dabbur will be infected.
– In the worst case, two elite teams will be exposed to the infection, and there will be a risk that they will carry the infection to clubs that play in many countries in Europe and Norway, he says.
– So it is not politics that is in this?
– No, not on our side. It is certainly political and signal effect as well, but we have evaluated it so that there is not an insignificant risk that some footballers may be infected and pass it on to elite teams in the world and Europe, says the health director.
