Norway’s Financial Supervisory Authority calls for a boycott of the Qatar World Cup

The head of the Norwegian Oversight Unit for Combating Economic Crimes urged the country’s National Football Association to boycott the World Cup in Qatar next year and called on other countries to skip the tournament.

In an interview with the Norwegian newspaper “VG,” Pål Lønseth said: “Sport must know that corruption has consequences.”

He continued: “Based on the view of crime prevention, Norway must boycott the World Cup in Qatar, and the entire football world must do so.”

Fra et kriminalitetsforebyggende perspektiv er det klart at Norge og andre nasjoner ikke bør delta i #Qatar -VM. Korrupsjon må ha en konsekvens. Man kan ikke tillate at Qatar profiterer på en #korrupt tildeling https://t.co/nQo2tvh8ci

— Pål K. Lønseth (@PalLonseth) October 28, 2021

The Norwegian financial crime unit has made a public statement saying Norway should boycott the World Cup in 2022 because of the corruption that led to Qatar being awarded the hosting rights. They add that the rest of the world should do the same. https://t.co/r6VVs2TofC

— Josimar Fotballblad (@JosimarFotball) October 28, 2021

Qatar was awarded the FIFA World Cup in 2010, and several accusations of corruption and scandals have since emerged about the process by which the Gulf state was given to host the prestigious global event.

In the documentary “Discovery The Men Who Sold The World Cup” former FIFA president Sepp Blatter acknowledged that the governing body did not always follow the rules when awarding the championship. He said: “FIFA is not corrupt. People in FIFA are corrupt.”

Of the 22 officials who gave Qatar the tournament in 2010, 16 were suspended, charged or sentenced to prison terms, according to VG.

The chief censor told the newspaper: “We must understand that we will see more corruption during the granting of hosting the event if we do not face the consequences of current regulations that were not good enough to prevent it.”

He completed: “That’s my opinion and that of censorship.”