This summer, Norwegian Mathias Normann, 26, chose to remain in Russia and the midfielder decided to go on loan from Rostov to Dynamo Moscow.
At home, he received a lot of criticism for not leaving the country due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and, among other things, he was suspended from national team games.
– Fundamentally, it is not the confederation’s role to say anything about national team players’ choice of club, but we are now in an extraordinary situation. Norwegian and European football agree to put joint pressure on Russia, which is a belligerent party, which has also used positions of power in sports very actively. All Russian teams are banned from international sports competitions. Ståle (Solbakken, the confederation captain) and I agree that Normann cannot represent Norway when he will now play for a new Russian club, said the president of the Norwegian Football Association, Lise Klaveness in a press release.
Normann himself does not understand the criticism. He does not see the controversy in playing in Russia at the same time as President Vladimir Putin rules the country with an iron fist.
– I will never understand why people are surprised by this. For me, Moscow, Norway and England are places where you can play football. And football is football – it’s the same everywhere. I see no problem.
Normann, who spent a couple of years in Russia, also seems to have acclimatized in his new home country and he can talk a little with teammates like Arsen Zakharyan and Konstantin Tyukavin.
– I speak a little Russian with them, because I have learned a little, but I understand the language. If they want to learn English, they can always count on my help. I have no doubt they will learn it. But football is football, it is an international language.
Normann has appeared in ten competitive matches this season. The Norwegian, who has made twelve senior internationals, has a past in clubs such as Norwich, Brighton and Molde.
