Martin Odegaard appeared to injure his right ankle in the first half in Gibraltar, and was taken off at half-time. The Norway players wore t-shirts expressing concern over Qatar's human rights record prior to kick-off of their first qualifier for the 2022 tournament
Wednesday 24 March 2021 21:45, UK
Arsenal's Martin Odegaard was forced off with an ankle knock during Norway's World Cup Qualifier against Gibraltar.
The attacker, who is on loan at the Gunners from Real Madrid, appeared to twist his right ankle in the first half and was subsequently replaced by Jens Petter Hauge at half-time.
Odegaard, who had been given the Norway captaincy, picked up the problem five minutes before half-time and was down for some time receiving treatment before playing on for the rest of the half.
In-form Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland replaced him as skipper in the second half, with their team leading 2-0 at the interval.
Odegaard has been impressive for Arsenal since joining from Real in January and a key part of their improvement under Mikel Arteta in 2021, having also opened his Premier League account in the win over north London rivals Tottenham.
The Norway squad sported t-shirts with the message 'Respect on and off the pitch' while they were warming up for the game, in an expression of concerns about the Qatar 2022 World Cup and its hosts' human rights record.
Norway's football association (NFF) has this week set up a committee that will look into these concerns, following an announcement by the Netherlands football federation this week speaking out on the subject.
Norway's committee consists of 14 people (six women, eight men) and the NFF says it contains "a broad composition of people in and outside football, with different voices in the debate and with important professional competence in the issues the committee is to assess".
According to the association, the committee will look at what the country "should do to respond to Qatar's handling of human rights in the country, including studying, assessing and setting on which instrument Norwegian football shall use for its reaction".
