Haaland shielded from press as Man City's guilty verdict dominates Norway camp

Erling Haaland was excused from Norway’s pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s UEFA Nations League fixture against Portugal, with head coach Stale Solbakken confirming the decision was taken to shield the striker from questions about Manchester City’s guilty verdict on 114 of their 115 Premier League charges.

The ruling, which landed on Friday, found City in breach of financial rules across a range of allegations dating back to 2023. Haaland was on international duty when the verdict was made public, having scored twice in Norway’s 3-2 win over Denmark on Thursday evening.

Solbakken was clear about his reasoning for keeping Haaland away from reporters. “Of course, it is because we want to concentrate and give him the best possible conditions to concentrate on the match,” the coach said. “You all know what the topic has been for the last 24 hours. It has nothing to do with the Nations League and what we are going to do.”

Solbakken pointed to the experience of Spain midfielder Rodri as a cautionary example. Rodri was subjected to repeated questions about the City verdict during Spain’s press conference on Friday, with the team’s player representative eventually cutting the session short. “A good example of that was the press conference Rodri had yesterday,” Solbakken said. “Therefore, I think it is timely that he concentrates on what he should do, and that is to score goals for Norway.”

The Norway head coach also clarified that he was not the sole decision-maker behind Haaland’s absence from the briefing, and confirmed the striker is expected to start against Portugal. “It’s going well” for Haaland within the Norway camp, Solbakken added.

Back in Manchester, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak released an open letter to supporters on Saturday afternoon reaffirming the club’s position. The statement made clear that City intend to continue asserting their innocence and that an appeal against Friday’s verdict is expected to follow.