Erling Haaland's absence for Norway has helped uncover a double standard in the coverage surrounding Arsenal's international injury crisis
13:47, 31 Mar 2026
Erling Haaland was rested for Norway's friendly despite Arsenal scrutiny over player injury crisis
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Erling Haaland was rested for Norway's friendly despite Arsenal scrutiny over player injury crisis(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Erling Haaland did not feature for Norway during their first international friendly last week. Something that, unlike Arsenal’s own absentees, went somewhat under the radar.
The Manchester City striker is expected to feature against Switzerland on Tuesday night, but again will not play the full game. Norway boss Stale Solbakken explained the decision behind Haaland’s absence ahead of the clash and why he was given “special treatment”.
"We have to take into account the overall load Erling has been under for a long, long time and based on that, we have concluded that the best solution for all parties is for him to get a necessary break now," he said.
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"Our conclusion is that it’s best if Erling participates in at most one of the matches during this international break. We think it would be nice if he perhaps gets to show himself in front of the Ullevaal crowd against Switzerland.
"It is special treatment precisely because of what Erling has been through both on and off the pitch. There is a huge amount of pressure on him, and for me it is by far most important that he delivers at the World Cup in June."
"He probably won't play the full game, but he'll start the game. We haven't fully determined [how many minutes he will play]. It could be a similar scenario to Amsterdam. That is, those who start the match will get a good hour."
Arsenal’s 10 players who have pulled out of international duty has been unequivocally the most talked about story of this fortnight. Some have gone as far as to say some players deserve Premier League suspensions.
It is worth noting that Arsenal are far from the only club that have seen players pull out of international duty.
Haaland’s absence from the first Norway match of the break hardly made news. Googling the striker’s name before Solbakken’s comments (and to an extent even afterwards) returns stories surrounding the player’s spending habits, philanthropy and other unrelated topics before anything specific to not playing for Norway and now being given this “special treatment”.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been referenced during the break for his influence on getting players to leave international duty.
Speaking on ‘The Wayne Rooney Show’, Rooney explained what his former manager used to do. "I always remember Sir Alex Ferguson before we'd go in for some of the games, I'm sure he'd speak to the England manager as well.
“He'd be like: 'Right, you, no more than 45 minutes. Make sure you come off after 45 minutes, or you only play 45 minutes.'
"So, I'd get to England, and I'd be like: 'Boss, I want to play 90 minutes. I want to play the full game, don't take me off,' because I used to love playing. Some players were different, and some players were protecting themselves with injuries as well, especially in the friendly games. But I used to love going."
The reality is that it is up to the national sides on whether a player is allowed to pull out. Clubs cannot withdraw any of their players; the federations must make that decision.
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Yet Arsenal continue to face scrutiny for the volume of players leaving, when in reality the decisions benefit the player, the club, and the country, especially with a World Cup in less than three months and many huge domestic fixtures left to play this season.