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There was something strange in Norway during the Olympics.
The country won the gold and medal league by a wide margin, so far everything has gone as usual.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo accumulated gold so much so that it even made it big in media that otherwise ignores long-distance runners, that was to be expected.
But the Norwegian fans were significantly less than usual at ski championships. Many would go to the USA instead, explained Norwegian colleagues.
Even in the media there was a feeling that the Winter Olympics were just a preparation party for the World Cup this summer.
Now the country is looking forward to a football summer as hot as Sweden
The Norwegian men’s national team has not participated in the World Cup since 1998. Now the country is dreaming of a football summer as hot as Sweden experienced in the USA.
And then it’s obviously not the time to stand on the barricades, protest and shout boycott.
Compared to the situation before the World Cup in Qatar, there is a resounding silence from Norway. At the time, clear voices were raised against the fact that the World Cup was taking place under a dictatorship that did not pay attention to the United Nations on human rights.
“There is no country that deals with this issue as intensively as Norway.”
Said football base Lise Klaveness. At that time, the Norwegian football movement decided at an extraordinary congress that Norway would publicly criticize the International Football Association Fifa from the podium. Clubs and supporters had pushed forward the demand that Klaveness had to enforce.
At the Fifa Congress in Qatar in March 2022, she pleaded for Norwegian football democracy with her inflammatory speech.
There is no such requirement before the FIFA Congress in April 2026.
On the other hand, at the Norwegian annual conference last weekend there was a suggestion that Norway should support the abolition of the FIFA Peace Prize. The award that Donald Trump received that no rational being cares about.
Now Norway has a really good team that is expected to reach the semi-finals
In 2022, Norway had a good team that was on the verge of missing the World Cup. Norway now has a really good team that has been preparing for the World Cup for a long time and has a good chance of reaching the semi-finals at home.
So who wants to be a party pooper?
And make the small observation that the host country, the United States, has violated international law twice within a short period of time. First with the attack on Venezuela and then with the bombings against Iran.
No matter how bad you think When it comes to the regimes in these countries, Donald Trump is making it increasingly difficult for us who still believe that Russia should not take part in international competitions.
When Norway qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, players wore jerseys with messages about respect and human rights before kickoff.
The Gibraltar captain felt the timing was wrong, the game should just be a football match. Norwegian colleague Ståle Solbakken had a different opinion. He said before the game:
– We want to put pressure on FIFA to take more direct and tougher action against the authorities in Qatar.
In the last qualifying game Norway would Meet Israel. At the time, Israel’s attacks on Gaza were a hot topic, but before that game, Solbakken suddenly only wanted to talk about football.
Solbakken declined to comment on Klaveness’s assumption that Israel would be excluded, as would Russia.
A few hours before the annual meeting of Norwegian football, the USA began bombing Iran.
Lise Klaveness stood at the lectern and recounted a bad feeling she had during a FIFA meeting in Washington. In a room full of senior football managers, she felt hostage to something that was clearly wrong. She thought the emperor was not only naked, he was leading the entire movement in the wrong direction.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is not a naked emperor. He is a fool. Donald Trump is holding the reins. Infantino cavorts around and is not to be taken seriously.
Lise Klaveness received widespread praise for her speech in 2022. Now she’s starting to sound like a frustrated martyr. As in the international top group, she is surrounded by nick dolls who own Yes and she can’t do anything about it.
Of course there is. After all, she heads the European UEFA.
And she can do what she was supposed to do during the World Cup in Qatar but didn’t stick to it. Stay home.
The team can go to the USA, but they can refuse to join the party of Trump and Infantino.
It would be as strong and impressive an action as when Ukrainian skeleton skater Vladyslav Heraskevytj refused to compete in the Olympics.
Finally: Another country that qualified for the World Cup is Iran.
– It is unlikely that we will be able to play, says the chairman of the Football Association Mehdi Taj.
Something Donald Trump says he “really doesn’t care about.”
It is also unlikely that the injured Swede will take part in the World Cup. And when it came to Qatar, Sweden was far from Norway. It was mostly meaningless mumbling from the then football manager.
Read more texts by Johan Esk
