The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is refusing to escalate a growing row with Norway over the cancellation of a pre-World Cup friendly, as both sides prepare for the tournament in the United States. The Norwegians have expressed outrage after Scotland called off a behind-closed-doors training match at the 11th hour, a game Norway claims was arranged months in advance as a final warm-up.
Norway's anger over cancelled friendly
Norway manager Stale Solbakken branded the decision 'unprofessional', while operations manager and former Fulham defender Brede Hangeland described Scotland's behaviour as 'embarrassing' and 'weak'. The controversy erupted after Scotland cancelled the match, which was scheduled to take place in North Carolina, where both teams are based for their World Cup preparations.
SFA's response
However, the SFA has refused to be drawn into a war of words. In a statement, the governing body explained that the game was organised between team managers, not head coaches, and that Scotland informed Norway as soon as possible when injuries from previous friendlies made the match too risky. 'We believe this was the right and consistent process,' the statement read. 'The game was also due to be behind closed doors and not announced publicly so we were surprised when news of the game broke via Norwegian media.'
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke added: 'It was just going to be a training game for an hour at our training ground. We picked up one or two niggles last week and decided it wasn't worth the risk.' Scotland insists Norway was informed before their 4-0 thrashing of Bolivia in New Jersey on Saturday.
Norway's response
Despite Scotland's explanation, Norway remains furious. After a final warm-up match against Morocco on Sunday, Solbakken said: 'It is unprofessional of Scotland. It is unprofessional that the coach has not called me, that they use the team manager and call and say it after we have finished training. I don't think the injuries they're blaming came from the last training session. That's not the case.'
Hangeland also weighed in: 'We have been working on that match for many months. It is embarrassing to cancel it a couple of days before. We can't do anything about it, we just have to forget about it and make the best of it. But there has been a lot of organisation, agreements and gentlemen's agreements and then suddenly they don't want to. I think that was weak, so to speak.'
Despite the tension, the SFA is focused on Scotland's own preparations, with sources saying Clarke is content with the team's build-up. Both sides are now set to begin their World Cup campaigns in the coming days.
