The Norwegian players marked the beginning of their quest to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by protesting the Gulf state’s alleged treatment of workers before kicking off on Wednesday in their opening match against Gibraltar.
The Norwegian side, which included Arsenal’s loan from Real Madrid Martin Odegaard and Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland, wore T-shirts that read ‘Human rights – on and off the field’ as they lined up for the match, which they eventually won 3-. 0.
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On Thursday, FIFA said it will not discipline Norway for the pro-human rights T-shirts.
FIFA’s Disciplinary Code states that players and federations can take disciplinary action in the event of ‘using a sporting event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature’.
However, FIFA said it will not open a case against Norway – continuing a more relaxed policy it showed at the 2018 World Cup towards women campaigning for stadium entry in Iran.
“FIFA believes in freedom of speech and the power of football as a force for good,” the governing body said in a statement on Thursday.
The Qatar World Cup organizing committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Norway has one of their best chances in recent history to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998, but a movement to boycott the tournament started by top club Tromso has recently gained momentum in the country.
Tromso has asked 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 industrial accidents since the tournament was awarded to Qatar in 2010.
In response to the Guardian report, the government of Qatar said a “very small percentage” of more than 1.4 million expatriates in the state had died between 2011 and 2019.
The government’s statement stated that over the past two decades it had taken steps to improve the health and safety of workers and that businesses had been punished for violating safety standards.