Norway to donate money from Israel match ‘to save lives in Gaza'
Lise Klaveness, the governing body's president, announced the donation in a statement criticising 'humanitarian suffering' and 'disproportionate attacks'.
Klaveness, a lawyer and former footballer, had been a prominent critic of human rights abuses in Qatar and Saudi Arabia prior to the nations being handed World Cup hosting rights.
Her intervention comes after political tensions also flared ahead of the first fixture between the nations – a 4-2 away victory for Norway – in March. Klaveness had said last year that the situation was 'difficult for us'.
Now, in a statement announcing ticket arrangements for the fixture in Oslo in October, the national federation has confirmed a donation to 'emergency aid' charities.
'Advance sales open on August 25th, and the NFF has decided that the profits from the match will go to a humanitarian cause,' the governing body says on its website.
In an apparent acknowledgement of security concerns, the NFF added it 'is taking several considerations to ensure a safe event for players and spectators'.
In a statement, Klaveness said: 'Neither we nor other organisations can have an indifferent attitude to the humanitarian suffering and the disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time. Israel is part of Fifa's and Uefa's competitions and we must deal with that. But we want to give the profits to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and that contributes with active emergency aid on the ground.'
The Norwegian federation is confident it has not breached any rules in making the gesture despite Uefa stating that political messages cannot be promoted in stadiums before, during or after matches.
Uefa have themselves faced scrutiny over that position, however, after last week displaying a 'Stop Killing Children – Stop Killing Civilians' banner on the pitch before the Super Cup.
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