Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken says 'World Cup organisers are hypocrites'

"You are hypocrites, we are hypocrites, and now there is a World Cup here, and we are here to play football."

That was the reply from Norwegian national team manager Stale Solbakken when asked about Iraqi forward Aymen Hussein, who was interviewed for nearly seven hours upon his arrival in Chicago.

"I believe we all agree that was unnecessary," said Solbakken.

This was the beginning of a series of queries regarding his views on how several non-sporting events have influenced the preparations for the tournament, which is being held in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

"I also believe we can all agree that many things could have been handled differently, but we are all hypocrites. There are numerous topics I would have preferred to discuss. There are several circumstances that, of course, could have been managed differently," he said.

Solbakken was then given the chance to expand on what he meant by "other things we might like to talk about". He subsequently mentioned the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

"I actually think about it a great deal. It ranges from the fact that the host nation is at war with another country (Iran), to issues like the one you have just mentioned," responded the national team manager, in reference to the visa difficulties.

Norway will take on Iraq in their opening match on Wednesday, 17 June.