National team postpones departure to Romania – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

The week so far has been anything but a joyous battle for the Norwegian Football Association, and today it has gotten even worse.

• On Wednesday, the association canceled the private international match against Israel, who had a crown-sick player with him, just hours before the match started after a very clear request from health director Bjørn Guldvog.
• On Friday it became known that the player of the national team Omar Elabdellaoui had tested positive for covid-19, which in practice means that the entire squad of the national team is in quarantine for ten days.
• At a meeting on Saturday morning, the Norwegian Health Directorate announced that the national team would violate quarantine regulations, and therefore Norwegian law, if the team boarded the plane to Bucharest to play the national league match. Sunday against Romania and Wednesday’s game against Austria.

I have not given up

After the meeting, the NFF leaders decided to postpone their departure, the association writes in a press release. Now they have sent an urgent request to the Ministry of Health in the hope that they can leave anyway.

The NFF believes that the regulations have not taken into account situations like this, and argues that the consequences of not competing are great for all of Norwegian football.

However, the Norwegian Health Directorate is clear that the regulations allow exceptions to the quarantine of the infection only in cases where it is necessary to avoid a danger to life and health.

NRK knows that NFF asked Oslo’s municipal chief Tore W. Steen on Friday to allow him to go to Bucharest. The doctor responded that the regulation gives his consent when “people infected in quarantine can exceptionally use public transport to reach a suitable quarantine place after a special evaluation by the municipal doctor.”

It further assumed that “everyone travels to the indicated place of residence, see list (with players and support staff, journal.anm.), And remains at the place of residence until the quarantine period expires.”

In other words, the answer was no, as none of the players on the national team live in Romania.

– Significant risk

The Norwegian Health Directorate exerted considerable pressure on the Norwegian Football Association on Friday and Saturday to stop the trip.

Jakob Linhave, Director of the Department of Environment and Health, wrote the following in an email to NFF Secretary General Pål Bjerketvedt, among others, on Friday afternoon:

«There is a significant risk of transporting the men’s soccer team from Norway to Romania for the implementation of the planned international match. The entire team is in quarantine after close contact with a teammate who tested positive on November 12, 2020.»

«Although other players tested negative before their planned departure to Romania, the tests here were carried out shortly after the exhibition. Therefore, there is a risk that close contacts who test negative will remain infected.»

«In this way, the players of the team may be more exposed to the infection, and it could also imply a risk of exposure to the infection of the players of the Romanian national team.»

– Sanctioned by the police

Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad told NRK just before the full NFF change on Saturday morning that the national team could increase the risk of spreading the infection if the trip is completed.

– If people who should have been in quarantine and are later infected have had close contact with other people during the quarantine period, there is a risk of spreading the infection. That’s why they quarantine him for ten days after the last contact with an infectious person, he says.

– What have you communicated to the NFF?

– The Norwegian Health Directorate has clarified to the NFF that it does not agree with the quarantine institute to remove from quarantine players who are close contacts of an infected person to play soccer.

The NFF has repeatedly stated that they follow UEFA’s protocol for matches during the pandemic, “Back to the Game”, but the Norwegian Health Directorate has reported that the protocol does not comply with Norwegian law.

Nakstad is also clear about what he risks if the law is broken:

The police can sanction violations of covid-19 regulations in Norway.

The Norwegian Health Directorate is clear that the ten-day quarantine applies to the squad of players, as well as the support apparatus, despite the fact that all have carried out a negative test since it was known that Omar Elabdellaoui was infected with a coronary heart disease.

– Financial consequences

In a press release on Saturday afternoon, Soccer President Terje Svendsen states the following:

– When the Norwegian Health Directorate puts its foot down, we have asked the team to remain in Norway until we get a new assessment. We have Norwegian legislation on one side that we interpret differently. If we do not travel, we are breaking the European community of which we are part. We, and not least the players, lose the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup if we fail in the first round. We lose the opportunity of a group winner who would give a promotion to level A and therefore more attractive opponents and that this has very important financial consequences for us. Furthermore, as the sole UEFA country, we will not compete in mandatory matches to which we have committed. This is a very demanding situation.

The selection of the captain of the national team has been clear about the desire to leave, despite the fact that this would lead to a breach of quarantine.

– The upcoming Nations League matches mean a lot to us in sport. If we don’t line up teams, it means we lose two games. That means a missed opportunity to qualify for the World Cup. Of course, we are concerned about the increasing contagion situation in society. That is why we do everything possible in our daily lives not to expose others to risks. As footballers, we have lived in quarantine for six months. We do what we can to keep football going. These games mean a lot to us, say Stefan Johansen and Martin Ødegaard on the captains team.