Norway’s soccer federation says it “cannot remain indifferent” to humanitarian suffering in Gaza and will donate any profits from an upcoming World Cup qualifying game against Israel to aid work there.
Norway plays Israel in Oslo on Oct. 11.
“Neither we nor other organizations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time,” Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness said in a statement Tuesday.
“We want to donate the proceeds to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and provides active emergency aid on the ground,” she said.
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It wasn’t immediately clear how much the Norwegian federation expected to earn through ticket sales for the match, which begin next week.
The Israeli soccer federation responded to the move on Wednesday by urging its Norwegian counterpart also to condemn the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and hostage-taking by Hamas. In a statement first published by British daily The Telegraph, the Israeli federation also called on the Norwegians to “make sure that the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” referring to an issue Norway has faced global criticism for.
The Norwegian federation said it is working with UEFA and local police on security arrangements for the Oct. 11 game. Extra security is expected to limit capacity by up to 3,000 tickets, the federation said. Ullevaal Stadium typically has crowds of 26,000 for national-team games.
Israel has been unable to host games in international competitions for security reasons since October 2023. It staged its “home” qualifying game against Norway in Hungary. Norway won that game 4-2 in March.
Norway currently tops the five-nation qualifying group ahead of Israel and Italy.
Ahead of Italy’s crucial World Cup qualifiers against Israel in the next two months, the Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is pushing for Israel to be suspended from international competition.
The AIAC has written a formal letter to the Italian soccer federation, to be forwarded to European and world soccer’s governing bodies, saying “Israel must stop. Soccer must also take action.”
Gabriele Gravina, the president of the Italian soccer federation, is also senior vice president of UEFA.
“The AIAC Board of Directors unanimously believes that, given the daily massacres, which have also resulted in hundreds of deaths among managers, coaches, and athletes … it is legitimate, necessary, indeed a duty, to place at the center of federation talks the request, to be submitted to UEFA and FIFA, for the temporary exclusion of Israel from sporting competitions,” the letter concludes.
“Because the pain of the past cannot cloud anyone’s conscience and humanity.”
Italy is set to play Israel on neutral turf in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sept. 8, before hosting the return match in Udine on Oct. 14.
“We could just focus on playing, looking the other way. But we believe that is not right,” AIAC vice president Giancarlo Camolese said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
