On Tuesday, Norway will face Israel in Hungarian Debrecen. When Federation President Lise Klaveness met the press, she stated that it is impossible to be "unaffected by the disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time".
We stand behind the Norwegian government's demand for an immediate stop to the attacks, says Klaveness.
Wants sanctions against Israel
At the same time, there is no talk of boycotting the match. This was also the opinion of Federation Captain Ståle Solbakken when he met journalists last week.
We believe it is the wrong way to go to boycott a match against a team from a country. Even though we and I very well understand that people do not agree. We have deep sympathy for this and it would be perceived as a strong solidarity action if we did it, says Klaveness and continues:
But we cannot reach a point where boycott is equal to solidarity.
The Norwegian Federation has had a close relationship with the Palestinian Football Federation for a long time and Norway supports a Palestinian proposal for the International Football Federation (Fifa) to impose some form of sanctions against the Israeli Federation and national team. So far, nothing has happened in this matter.
Contacted Fifa
We think it has taken too long. We have ourselves been in contact with Fifa to make progress in the matter, says Klaveness.
Federation Captain Solbakken believes that it is not possible to compare the exclusion of Russia and the handling of the Israel issue.
What is happening in the Middle East has a different historical background, which makes it more complicated than Russia-Ukraine, says Solbakken.
