The sports authorities gave the player time to think, and then staged a show trial.
The Norwegian sports authorities were slow to draw conclusions about Matthias Normann. When the player first spoke about returning to Russia, at home they only made it clear to him that he could greatly regret this career decision. Both the coach of the national team and the head of the federation spoke softly, in some ways even supporting the football player …
But as soon as there was a transfer to Dynamo, polite conversations stopped. The Norwegian was punished almost instantly.
The message of the federation is clear: this will be the case with everyone now.
“Best Sports Opportunity”
This summer, Matthias Normann, whose rights still belong to Rostov, was not going to return to Russia. The Norwegian midfielder spent the last season in the Premier League, where, however, neither he nor his Norwich managed to gain a foothold. The Canaries did not renew the contract with the player before being demoted to the Championship, and then his agent had to look for new options in Europe. After all, even before the end of the contract with the English club, Matthias bluntly stated in an interview with Norwegian TV that he did not want to continue his career in Russia.
Finding a place in the top league for the Norwegian turned out to be difficult, but by the end of the summer a new agreement was nevertheless concluded. On August 16, Norman was signed by Lecce, another outsider club, but now from Serie A.
The next day, things took an unexpected turn. The transfer officially submitted by the club was declared invalid. The football player has already moved to Italy and started working with the team, but now he again had to pack his bags. As it turned out later, a strange situation arose due to bureaucratic problems: the player was not registered on time.
Less than two weeks were left before the transfer window closed in Europe. To search for alternatives, the deadlines were extremely tight, especially since Norman was not one of the most sought-after players on the continent. At Norwich, the 26-year-old was mediocre with just 3 goals in 1,652 minutes on the pitch. According to rumors, only the Belgian Anderlecht became interested in the Norwegian, but it didn’t work out with him either. So the Norwegian had only one way out: to change shoes.
– Today Russia is the best sporting opportunity for me. So we stopped there. If I’ve learned anything in my career, it’s that you can’t mix politics and football. I go there to play and I am very happy about it,” Norman later said.
“There will be consequences”
In Norway, they quickly reacted to the news about Normann’s return to Russia and his potential transfer to Dynamo Moscow. However, neither the coach of the national team, Stole Solbakken, nor the head of the federation, Lisa Claveness, began to cut from the shoulder. Both specialists called the choice of the athlete “controversial” and said that they would still discuss the issue of his call to the national team. The prospects in the homeland of the player remained:
— We do not have restrictions aimed at individual athletes. There is no such thing that he will not automatically be invited to the national team. The restrictions we have adopted are not aimed at players, but it is actually difficult to understand such a choice. He should be responsible for this himself,” Solbakken said clearly.
Soon the rumors about the transfer of Matthias were confirmed. The capital club has not yet officially announced the deal, but the press is already talking about the transfer of the player as a fait accompli. Recently, for example, on the Internet hit a picture of a satisfied Norman with a Dynamo doctor – the player passed the medical examination in Moscow successfully. Later, a photograph of a seat in the Dynamo VIP box, reserved in the name of Stan Norman, Matthias’s father, was also leaked to the network.
In a word, the Norwegian did not use the opportunity to “think about his behavior”. And already on September 5, the position of the Scandinavian football authorities became tough: the path to the football player in the national team was closed.
— I called him when I heard about it. [переходе в «Динамо”], and said there would likely be repercussions if he signed the contract. He did it today. Then Klaveness and I agreed to inform him of the non-call,” Solbakken said.
– All Norwegian and European football is ready to put pressure on Russia together. Solbakken and I agree that Normann cannot represent Norway in a situation where he plays in Russia, Lisa confirmed.
The most surprising thing is that for the hesitant Solbakken, the decision to remove the player suddenly became “simple”, and not only Norwegian football, but all of European football came into play. Here we can assume that not only the coach had to talk with his superiors: it is quite possible that this sports policy is coordinated at the international level under the unofficial control of UEFA, which, by the way, takes a rather tough stance towards Russia.
Be that as it may, Matthias ultimately became the victim of a kind of show trial. As soon as the situation became clear, cautious statements were instantly replaced by a cruel punishment imposed on behalf of the pan-European football justice. The story of Norman should be a signal for the last ones who want to go to work in disgraced Russia: this will be the case with everyone now.
