Ticket sales from Norway’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Israel would go to medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to help it alleviate “humanitarian suffering” in Gaza, the Norwegian Football Association said on Monday.
The Oct. 11 match in Oslo “will be played against the backdrop of grave humanitarian suffering, and we are not and cannot remain indifferent to this,” Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness told reporters at a news conference.
“We think it is entirely justified to give the ticket sales to Doctors Without Borders, which is providing concrete, emergency aid on the ground in Gaza,” she said.
Photo: AP
Klaveness criticized the “disproportionate attacks targeting Gaza for far too long.”
The match is to be played in a sold-out Ullevaal Stadium, which has the capacity to host about 27,000 spectators.
“We are moved to see donors willing to make such a significant contribution to support our colleagues plunged into a brutal and desperate situation in Gaza, where they need all possible support, both financial and moral,” said Lindis Hurum, the secretary general of the Norwegian branch of MSF.
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