The Norwegian Football Federation has excluded midfielder Mathias Normann from the national team following his decision to sign for another Russian club. In this way, the sports authorities of the Nordic country have maintained their strong position since the military invasion of Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin in February.
After playing in the Premier League last season on loan in a relegated Norwich shirt, Normann returned to Rostov, but has now loaned him back to Dinamo Moscow until June 2023 with an option to buy. “For now this is the best sporting opportunity I have and, therefore, this is what I chose,” said the footballer.
While most foreign players left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, Normann returned. After confirming the player’s decision, the president of the Norwegian Federation, Lise Klaveness, agreed with coach Ståle Solbakken that Normann could not be called up for the national team because he had joined another Russian club before the upcoming against the Vikings. ‘ in the League of Nations.
The Norwegian Federation, stable
“The whole of Norwegian and European football agrees to put joint pressure on Russia as a fighting party, which also uses positions of power in the sport very actively,” Klaveness said in a statement. The Norwegian sport has adopted other measures along the same lines, such as not accepting Russian skiers in its competitions.
Solbakken himself personally told Normann that he would not consider him for international matches this month. The 26-year-old midfielder has been capped 12 times by the Norwegian senior team since making his debut in 2019.
Leader of the Nations League thanks to Haaland’s goals
After failing to qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the Nordic team, boosted by the five goals scored by Erling Haaland, leads Group 4 of League B of the Nations Lwague, with 10 points from 4 games, before visiting the Slovenia and host Serbia on September 24 and 27.
Rybus, another case
Normann is not the first player to be excluded from his national team for being a member of a Russian team. Poland, which qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, announced in June that defender Maciej Rybus would not be called up after signing for Spartak Moscow.
Russian clubs and national teams are excluded from international competitions by FIFA and UEFA due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Source: La Verdad
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