The Norwegian players marked the start of their mission to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, protesting against the alleged treatment of golf state workers before starting their first match against Gibraltar on Wednesday.
The Norwegian team, including Arsenal renter Real Madrid’s Martin Odegaard, and Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland wore T-shirts that said “Human rights – on and off the pitch” as they lined up for in the match, which won by 3-0.
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On Thursday, FIFA said it would not discipline Norway for pro-human rights shirts.
FIFA’s disciplinary code states that players and federations can face disciplinary action in the event that “a sporting event is used for non-sporting events”.
Still, FIFA has said it will not open a case against Norway, which will continue with a more relaxed policy it showed at the 2018 FIFA World Cup towards women struggling to gain access to Iran’s stadiums.
“FIFA believes in freedom of expression and the power of football as a definitive force,” the governing body said in a statement on Thursday.
The Qatar World Cup organizing committee did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
Norway has one of their best chances in recent memory to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998, but a move to boycott the tournament, initiated by top-flight club Tromso, has recently picked up pace. country.
Tromso has called on the Norwegian football federation to consider boycotting the World Cup following an investigation by the British newspaper The Guardian which claimed that 6,500 migrant workers have died in accidents at work since the tournament was awarded in Qatar in 2010.
In response to the Guardian report, the Qatari government said a “very small percentage” of more than 1.4 million expats in the state had died between 2011 and 2019.
The government statement said it had taken steps to improve the health and safety of workers over the past two decades and had imposed punishments on employers who breached safety rules.