The history of Tvedten may not be known to most people. But in 2011, the Norwegian handball profile was paid to play for three weeks for the Lebanese club Al-Sadd in connection with the club WC in handball. – We players got paid and the club I come from got paid. I was there for two or three weeks, Tvedten tells news. The 44-year-old played at the time for the Spanish team Valladolid, and received the message from the president of the club to be loaned to Al-Sadd together with several players. Both parties must have been well compensated. EXPERT: Håvard Tvedten is an expert commentator for news during the handball World Cup. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB – It’s lucrative to be hired like that, says Tvedten. – A buying tournament According to the former handball player, the practice is not unusual. The news expert says that for many years, clubs from the Middle East, among others, have hired and brought in players from abroad in connection with both international matches and club matches. He points out that there is a big difference between being hired by a club team, compared to changing citizenship and playing for another national team. – It was done every year, I think. The teams from both Qatar and other Arab countries bought in foreign players. It was a buyout tournament and the only way they could compete against the good European teams, Tvedten describes his experience. He cannot remember the amount they received for participating, but believes they received a significant amount for taking third place in the tournament. This was distributed among the players who had been hired. – If we hadn’t come, the Lebanese team wouldn’t have won a single match. There were maybe 7–8 of us, estimates Tvedten. – Did you then make any ethical assessments about playing such a tournament? – The money we received came from a private person in Lebanon. I did not experience that there was anything ethically controversial then. SLIT: Qatar is so far with zero points after three games played in this World Cup. Photo: Piotr Hawalej / AP Møter Qatar The case has also been seen several times in the handball World Cup with national teams such as Bahrain and Qatar, where foreign players have been granted citizenship and a license to play for the respective teams. On Saturday, Norway meets a Qatari team that has 13 out of 18 players in the squad who were born in a country other than Qatar. – For my part, it would have been completely out of the question, says Tvedten. In the World Cup on home soil in 2015, Qatar made it all the way to the final and eventually ended up with a silver medal. Even then with a number of “acquired” players in the squad. Norway’s national team profiles also react to the practice of Qatar, which has been accused of using sporting success as an important PR tool and what is allegedly supposed to be sports laundering of the country which has received extensive criticism for its treatment of migrant workers and its relationship with human rights. CRITICAL: Bergerud is skeptical of Qatar’s practice of bringing in players who previously had another nationality. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB – They have been doing it like this for a very long time. I don’t understand why they choose to do it that way, but they choose to do it that way. We choose not to do it that way. They get to rule with theirs, then we get to rule with ours, says Norway’s star goalkeeper Torbjørn Bergerud to news about Qatar’s player purchase. He is supported by Norway’s winger Sebastian Barthold. – I don’t think much of that. You must have a sense of nationalism. I think that is something that characterizes the good langs. I don’t know if there are many of those who play for Qatar who sat in front of the TV and dreamed of playing for another national team – Qatar, he says to news. Norway meets Qatar on Saturday at 18:00.
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Got a lucrative contract in the Middle East – would never play for Qatar – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
