Hegerberg contacted several sports profiles before agreeing to become an expert on NRK’s ​​World Cup – NRK Sport – Sports News, Scores & Broadcast Schedule

– DrThe fact that Qatar won the World Cup means that everyone loses. Not only were the teams and players involved, we were spectators, too. It was hard for me to tell that I was looking forward to the restroom.

So says Andreen Hegerberg, who doesn’t hide the fact that she had a huge dilemma on her lap when NRK reached out and asked if she wanted to become one of the media house’s regulars during the World Cup.

She says it “took a really long time” to say yes.

– I said for a long time that I should have nothing to do with Qatar, but soon I ended up in a situation of double standards because I played for two teams sponsored by Qatar, in Rome and Paris Saint-Germain. She says: I went several rounds with myself before I was accepted.

– Never before

In fact, she got so thoroughly into it that she even made time to make some phone calls to a number of personalities in Norway who could help her settle arguments for or against.

– It’s probably never before that you’ve been asked to act as an expert, but contact fellow footballers, head footballers and Norway’s most experienced, such as Andreas Selliaas, To get their input, she says.

Norwegian journalist Andreas Siljaas, who runs the website idrettspolitikk.no, confirms to NRK that Hegerberg contacted him.

– Andrine wanted input before she made her decision. I told her I wouldn’t advise her to take the job or not, but gave her some ideas about potential negative reactions, and that even if she had good intentions in taking the job, it’s not certain everyone would accept it as a good vindication, Celias says.

Hegerberg was praised for this initiative.

– I think it’s good that Andreen wanted to see this job from many angles before she decided. I was under the impression that she also wanted to contribute to highlighting the negative aspects of the tournament and that this was a prerequisite for saying yes to the job. I recommended she call Morton Thorsby to get advice from a fellow player who uses his platform as a footballer to highlight something he’s passionate about, he says.

Hegerberg heard Selliaas and also contacted Morten Thursby.

– I was He despaired that no one had talked about the fact that women are being systematically discriminated against in Qatar, while he was desperate that no one had spoken of the environmental disaster in the Qatar World Cup. This says something about the extent of the problem. Hegerberg points out that everyone I consulted with also had problems saying yes or no about whether I should accept the job, and that says a lot.

– DrIt is not purified as a good or bad person

After exhaustive rounds with several advisors, I finally decided to accept the assignment.

Now she will be a regular feature on NRK’s ​​WC broadcasts with Emil Gukild, Åge Hareide, Tete Lidbom, Kristoffer Løkberg and Ingerid Stenvold.

– nAnd since I’m here and I’m going to work on it, I feel like I’ll be able to find happiness in football again. This is not black and white, and you are not defined as a good or bad person whether or not you choose to watch the World Cup, Hegerberg stresses.

What ultimately carried weight was the argument that she forfeited the opportunity to use her voice if she refused to become a TV expert.

– For my part, I am aware of the fact that this World Cup is really happening. Personally, I feel a responsibility to absorb all the information I can access, so that I am ready to move forward and contribute to sustaining the debate.

– I must add that I have great respect for Alexander Shaw and the others early He chose to boycott WC, which in many ways helped start the debate. Now, our task is to move it forward, while my main task is primarily to transfer football, as you say.

The club’s reaction after the announcement was no

In fact, Hegerberg has had some episodes where she has distanced herself from Qatar in the past.

She says that the first instance occurred at a club she had previously played for, without wanting to name any.

During the sponsorship day, stations were set up with different sponsors where you had to walk around and take part in some short advertising recordings.

One of the stops was Qatar Airways, but she asked to be left.

– Then I was immediately called to a meeting with the media director where I was reminded that this is part of my job, and that it was stated in the contract that I should do such things. But I didn’t have to do that, and the club coped well, even though they felt they had to talk, she says.

The second case arose when I participated in a digital conference in 2018 with Carli Lloyd, Tim Cahill and several other profiles where they were supposed to have an inspiration sequence for Aspire Academy in Qatar, of which Tim Cahill is the sporting director.

The entire conference was presented by Hassan Al Thawadi, Director of the Qatar World Cup, who welcomed and allowed himself an interview.

I think she was “silent”

What Hegerberg had been told beforehand was that they should talk about the role of women in football and inspire children and young girls.

– This was shown on several continents with several million viewers, but instead they wanted us to tell about the great development that happened in Qatar, that they created a national girls’ team and presented it as a kind of sunshine story. When I spoke my mind, it was probably too harsh for them, and I was “silent.”

– Your mediator put you in silence when you criticized Qatar?

– Specifically, I’m still not sure what really happened, but yeah, I have strong suspicions about that. I didn’t feel like I was so important either, But more than I did not join On those disturbances in Qatar. Then I was put on mute. I sat with the media manager in front of the PC and was present via Teams, and at first I thought it was a technical glitch, but it just happened to me. I found all of this a little confusing, you remember.

NRK provided Hegerberg’s comments to Aspire Academy in Qatar. At the time of writing, they have not responded to NRK’s ​​inquiry.

After the episode, her father called her Eric Stein, who followed the conference directly.

– he is He called as soon as he finished and was convinced that I had not allowed myself to be “fooled”. In general, I understand that this is just a small incident, but it shows the methods according to which, as you think, they work.

What would it be like to work with WC as an expert?

– it will be Different. Both sporting and non-sporting aspects that will surround this tournament. To take the sporting side, I think anything can happen, many different teams can win. And it will be additionally open With various factors such as a shorter preparation stage and winter tournaments. She says I am very excited about the teams entering the tournament and their results.

– I have a lot of questions that we’ll have answers to soon, so it’s just a matter of rounding up the clichés; The only sure thing is that only one team will win.

As is known, the World Cup kicks off on November 20 with the opening match between Ecuador and the worst country, Qatar. That match is broadcast on TV 2. NRK is broadcasting England v Iran and Senegal v Holland on Mondays.