"We can confirm that, on behalf of York Promotions Ltd. and Erling Braut Haaland, we have filed a lawsuit against Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA," writes lawyer Thomas Hagen in an email to VG.no.
"The case concerns Norwegian’s unlawful use of Haaland’s identity and brand in its marketing of flight tickets during the World Cup," writes Hagen, of the law firm Schjødt.
"We have no further comments at this time," he adds.
VG is not aware of the details of the lawsuit, but this Instagram post has been deleted from Norwegian’s pages.
"We’ve never looked more Norwegian," the airline wrote alongside a photo of a Norwegian aircraft. They had photoshopped in Haaland’s well-known—formerly blonde—hairstyle, complete with his signature ponytail at the back.
The image was shared on TikTok, among other platforms. Norwegian has also deleted Instagram posts featuring Haaland.
Eivind Hammer Myhre, a press spokesperson for Norwegian, confirms to VG that the company has received the lawsuit.
“It is true that we have received a lawsuit that we find baffling,” says Myhre. He points out that Norwegian, like many others, cheered for the national team this summer.
“Like almost all of Norway, we joined in cheering for the national team this summer through a few spontaneous posts based on social media trends.”
Norwegian believes the posts must be viewed in this context.
“It is unfortunate that these cheers have been met with a lawsuit, but we hope for a sensible dialogue so that we may continue to cheer for our shared sports heroes in the future,” says Myhre.