Erling Haaland’s big legal case is starting soon, and the Man City star has only eight days to get ready for court.
Erling Haaland has been given a court date next week as part of an ongoing legal issue over a marketing dispute. After hearing that Manchester City was found guilty of most of the 115 Premier League charges, the last thing Haaland needs right now is more legal trouble. But it turns out he’ll have to deal with it soon, as a hearing date has been set for his case against Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA.
After the World Cup, Haaland and his lawyers took legal action against the Scandinavian airline. The dispute is about the airline using Haaland’s image to promote flights for fans wanting to attend the World Cup—where Haaland and Norway surprised many by doing really well. Norway made it to the quarter-finals, their best result ever, losing to England. Haaland scored seven goals, tying for third place in the golden boot race with Jude Bellingham.
In an email to Norwegian outlet VG, Haaland’s lawyer Thomas Hagen explained the case. He said, “We confirm that on behalf of York Promotions Ltd. and Erling Braut Haaland, we have filed a lawsuit against Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. The case is about the airline using Haaland’s image without permission in their World Cup flight marketing.”
Norwegian Air Shuttle also confirmed they got the complaint. A company spokesperson told VG, “It’s true we received a lawsuit, but we don’t fully understand it. Like most Norwegians, we have cheered on the national team this summer with some spontaneous social media posts. It’s a shame the cheers led to a lawsuit, but we hope we can have a fair conversation so we can continue supporting our sports heroes in the future.”
Although details are unclear, Norwegian has taken down a social media post that featured Haaland’s old ponytail hairstyle on one of their planes. The hearing will be held on October 9 as a video call from 10 am to 11 am and will mainly be a meeting with a judge and lawyers to plan for a possible trial.
Meanwhile, Manchester City is preparing to appeal the Premier League decision, and Haaland is busy playing for Norway. The 26-year-old striker has already scored twice against Denmark and once against Portugal. Norway faces Wales next on Thursday.
When asked how Haaland feels about the City news, Norway teammate Kristoffer Ajer said Haaland is “fully focused” during this Nations League break. Ajer said, “He’s just the same with the national team—focused on the games ahead. He’s waiting to see what happens with the news, but right now, his main focus is the match against Wales. That’s how he always is.”
Ajer added, “There’s no change in Haaland at all. Since I met him, he’s brought energy and happiness to the group. The biggest compliment I can give is that he hasn’t changed one bit, even though he’s the biggest star in the world right now. He’s been the same these past few days, which doesn’t surprise me.”
After Norway’s last game on Sunday against Portugal, Haaland will return to City, who have a tough away match against Liverpool coming up next.