Rosenborg reports on its website Thursday evening.
– Most of our supporters did not participate in Sunday’s actions, and this will be a collective punishment that affects far too many who have nothing to do with this issue. The punishment, therefore, becomes disproportionate, says Berdal.
The statement comes in response to the decision by the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) that the top league match between Rosenborg and Lillestrøm – which was interrupted after VAR protests on Sunday – will be played in front of empty stands.
– After a specific assessment, the NFF has concluded that we are facing “special circumstances” which mean that the teams can play the match, but that it must be played in front of empty stands, the NFF writes in a press release.
They further state that in the assessment of “special circumstances,” it has been emphasized that the clubs are facing an extraordinary situation as we have not previously had similar actions so systematically directed at the playing fields and with such a degree of collaboration and coordination between various supporter groups.
– We assess that the pressure on the clubs is nevertheless high as their own supporters have directed actions against the football field during the match, that the clubs must identify and sanction their own supporters who have thrown objects, and that the club risks fines and possibly other sanctions imposed by the NFF’s independent judicial bodies.
Will be replayed
There was also a risk that both clubs would receive zero points, but that will not happen. Instead, the match will be replayed.
– Finally, the NFF assesses that the backdrop for the actions is such that setting the match result to 0–0 and awarding 0 points in this specific case would pose an unnecessarily large risk of escalating tension in an already charged situation for Norwegian top clubs.
– Strict
– Strict in its way. But the NFF has decided to mark its position regarding the protests now, says NRK sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt.
Saltvedt believes there is no reason to think that this will have a preventive effect on Norwegian supporters who dislike video officiating.
– Quite the opposite. Some will see it as a sort of omen for how the stands might end up looking in the Norwegian top league in the long run if a more constructive dialogue than the NFF has managed so far is not achieved.
Sports commentator at NRK, Jan Petter Saltvedt.
Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / NRK
Glad for replay
– It is good that they choose to resume it and that it will be replayed and that there will be no points shared. It is very special that the reaction is in consideration of the fact that it is a collective protest against VAR. If actions were stopped, one would know that there would not be new actions. It is somewhat surprising, but not unexpected.
That is what Tony Johansen in Kanarifansen says. He believes it would be wrong to exclude the supporters and says they will release more statements as time goes on.
– We will ally with the rest of the supporters regarding what we think about the press release. This must be a united front, and it is nice to see that the clubs are taking extra steps. It’s a bit early to comment.
Will be a topic at the football assembly
The Norwegian Football Federation also confirms that video officiating will be a topic at next year’s football assembly in March.
–I and we spend a lot of time meeting and listening to Norwegian supporters at various levels. This is a significant part of the job, I think. We are passionately committed to ensuring there is great freedom of expression in Norwegian and international football. I am humble in acknowledging that we may not have previously communicated clearly enough what effective democratic channels there are to become involved in the question of VAR’s future in Norwegian football.
– We will now do our best to respond positively to the clubs’ and supporters’ requests, says football president Lise Klaveness.
Saltvedt believes it is sensible that this is now being raised.
– The NFF has realized that this line will not work as they hoped, and has now laid out a plan to structure the debate leading up to next year’s federation assembly.
Football president Lise Klaveness.
Photo: Per Sveinung Larsen / NRK
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