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Today’s controversial international match in Ullevaal between Norway and Israel has been canceled. This is stated by the Norwegian Football Association in a press release.
New evaluations from the Norwegian Health Directorate have led Health Director Bjørn Guldvog to strongly recommend that the match not be played.
On Tuesday, the Oslo municipal chief gave the go-ahead for the game to be played after a player tested positive for COVID-19 in the Israeli squad. The player was isolated from the rest of the squad, along with other players he had dined with. Thus, the situation was cleared up and preparations for the battle were able to continue.
In a meeting this Wednesday morning and in a subsequent letter to the Norwegian Football Association (NFF), the Norwegian Health Directorate believes that there is a risk of contagion between players and support staff if the current match takes place international between Norway and Israel.
Photo: Bjorn Steinar Delebekk / VG
– Of course, it is sad to cancel a match hours before the start. At the same time, it underlines the gravity of the situation in which we find ourselves. This fall more than 500 international matches have been held in Europe. Therefore, we are confident that the protocols provide the necessary infection control framework in the matches that are played. Now that health authorities are unsure of the risk of spread after an outbreak of infection in the Israeli team and recommend canceling the match, we will of course follow this up, says Pål Bjerketvedt, general secretary of the Norwegian Football Association.
– We didn’t have this on the radar until yesterday. The match was under ordinary planning and the municipal superior authorized the game, even with an infection in a player, Bjerketvedt tells VG.
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– We know this morning that the Norwegian Health Directorate did their own assessments last night and invited us to a meeting today. It has no legal basis, but they came up with a strong recommendation. Both because of the uncertainty about the Israeli troops and because of the situation in Norwegian society, and Oslo in particular, says the Secretary General.
– This meeting was a couple of hours ago. We have conducted our own evaluations based on that. There are many parties here, with our own organizing staff and the two national teams. We have not worked with anything else in the last hours, at the same time it is important to come out with this quickly, because there are not many hours until the game begins.
THE SECRETARY GENERAL: Pål Bjerketvedt and NFF worked hard on Wednesday morning. Photo: Frode Hansen
Mu’nas Dabbur, from the Israel Troop, was diagnosed with coronary heart disease. The match was a training match.
Several have voiced criticism of the implementation of Wednesday’s match between Norway and Israel. Oslo City Councilor Raymond Johansen has called the fight “indefensible”.
– There is player predation, weak infection control and exposes people to unnecessary dangers when playing more or less important international matches. It seems strange that players are being sent all over the world, and here in the city we are in the middle of a social shutdown. I think it’s incomprehensible, the 59-year-old told VG on Tuesday.
VG updates the case.
