This happens if Norway does not travel

On Friday, Omar Elabdellaoui tested positive for the coronavirus. The national team squad was thus quarantined. Minister of Health Bent Høie says that he will not make an exception for the Norwegian squad to travel, and that it will be in a legal gray zone.

TV 2 has been in contact with UEFA, which refers to the protocol on its website if players or a team end up in mandatory quarantine or isolation.

No to B-team against Romania

Point one says that the match would have been played if Norway had at least 13 players available, including one goalkeeper. The national team’s plan was to leave the players residing in Norway, and travel with only the foreign professionals.

An alternative could have been to scrape together a squad consisting of players who have not been selected for the national team. Nils Fisketjønn, competition director in NFF, rejects this as an opportunity for Sunday’s match against Romania.

To TV 2 explains that he it will be too short a time in terms of testing new players and the like.

Postponement

Should you not be able to field 13 players, postponement is the next point for UEFA. But, as the European Football Association points out, it can be impossible in a packed football calendar. Another possibility is to play the match on neutral ground, but it would also be broken with the Norwegian regulations.

Competition director in NFF, Nils Fisketjønn, writes in an SMS to TV 2 that a postponement is just impossible. In the next national team gathering, the World Cup qualifier is on the poster for Norway, at the same time as there are very few holes in a hectic everyday life for the club teams.

When the match is not postponed, the case ends up with UEFA’s disciplinary committee.

If a league is held responsible for a match not being played, the team will be declared the loser of the match. The exception is if the disciplinary committee concludes that both or neither team is responsible for the match being settled.

– Do you think there is any way around it?

– Unfortunately not. Normal procedure will be that we lose the match 0-3, Fisketjønn answers.

On Wednesday, Norway was to meet Austria in Vienna. From Tuesday, the nation will be shut down for three weeks, Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Saturday, according to Reuters. If both teams should be held responsible for the match not being played, and therefore a loser can not be declared, the result will be decided by drawing lots.

It will not happen after all sun marks, as the Austrians will probably have the opportunity to move the match to another country.

Financial sanctions

Norwegian health authorities operate differently than other nations. Earlier this week, Sweden’s Carl Starfelt was confirmed infected with the corona. It was also Croatia’s Domagoj Vida. Nevertheless, according to the UEFA protocol, the teams will meet in Stockholm on Saturday night.

Fisketjønn also fears financial sanctions.

– We can be held responsible for the costs incurred in connection with the matches. At the top, we can risk deductions in media revenues because we do not play matches, he explains.

The sporting consequences

Given that Norway will be sentenced to a loss, the possibility of winning the Nations League group will probably be missed. Group victory could potentially provide an extra playoff opportunity for the World Cup, in addition to promotion to Group A. Then one would face more attractive opposition in the next Nations League round.

Norway should also play for important ranking points. Had they won the original matches against Israel, Romania and Austria, the national team would have had the opportunity to play in the top 20 nations in the FIFA rankings.

It would place them in seeding pool two instead of three for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, and there of great opportunities for an easier group.