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Football

17th Jun 2019

Andy Brassell explains why criticism of Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg is unfair

European football expert Andy Brassell explains to JOE why criticism of Ada Hegerberg is unfair and how this summer's World Cup can boost women's football

Reuben Pinder

As you’ll be aware by now, Ada Hegerberg isn’t playing for Norway this summer

She’s the best player in the world. She won the inaugural Women’s Ballon d’Or. She’s a key part of the most dominant team in football – arguably in all of sport, Olympique Lyonnais Fémenin. But she’s not playing at the World Cup. Ada Hegerberg has not played for Norway since 2017 and shows no signs of changing her mind until the Norwegian football federation change their ways.

For more details on why exactly the 23-year-old superstar is taking a stand, read this article.

We caught up with European football expert Andy Brassell ahead of Norway’s final group fixture against South Korea to get his take on her protest, which he describes as “fair enough” and highlights her consistency on the issue.

Brassell also laments the amount of criticism aimed at Hegerberg that comes from a place of ignorance, of not understanding her reasoning behind refusing to represent her country.

Watch the interview below.