FIFPRO awards: Norwegian life goals
|The Norwegian women's team were awarded the FIFPRO Award by Homeless World Cup Champion Honey Thaljieh Image: Angelica Ibarra Rodriguez
Swift and transnational care for their Danish opposition goalkeeper who sustained an injury mid-match saw the Norwegian women’s team named the Day 3 FIFPRO Fair Play Award recipients.
The Norwegian players had collectively gone to the Danish keeper’s aid after she was injured while defending against them. The immediate and genuine concern the players showed, irrespective of the fact that they were technically in opposition and were traditional inter-country rivals, was noticed by officials and fans alike.
But the team was unaware of the accolade until moments before the fair play award presentation—the Norwegian coaching staff had kept the award announcement a secret until the team had finished their last match of the day.
|Image: Angelica Ibarra Rodriguez
The award announcement brought the Norwegian players a much-welcome boost as it came off the back of a few tough losses against strong opponents. A few players shed some tears of happiness as they gathered for the award presentation and some photographs.
Homeless World Cup Champion and former Palestinian professional footballer Honey Thaljieh presented the players with their medals and fair play t-shirts and commended them on their sportspersonship.
So, while the match results hadn’t necessarily been what the team was hoping for, the FIFPRO Fair Play award recognition signalled something more important. It bodes well for the 2025 Homeless World Cup, which Norway will be hosting—the second time the country will have hosted it.
Words: Fiona Crawford
Images: Angelica Ibarra Rodriguez