The gesture is extremely rare in the world of professional football. Norwegian players denounced the working conditions of workers on the construction sites of the 2022 World Cup stadiums in Qatar on Wednesday, March 25th, before their qualifying meeting against Gibraltar. Erling Haaland (pictured above) and his national team mates walked onto the pitch dressed in a white t-shirt with the words: “Human rights on and off the pitch” written on it. They kept it until the time of the hymns before the start of the meeting. The day before, the coach of Norway, Staale Solbakken, had announced the approach of the players, explaining that his objective was to “put pressure on FIFA to be even more direct, even firmer towards the authorities in Qatar, that it impose more stringent requirements on them”. National team captain Martin Odegaard said “a lot of players are interested in this, care about it and want to do something to try to contribute in a good way“. Earlier in the season, several Norwegian clubs voted in favour of a boycott of the 2022 Worlds in Qatar.
