Erling Haaland has been given a date in court after launching legal proceedings against Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. The Erling Haaland court date falls on Friday, October 9, when the case will be heard at Oslo District Court.
The Manchester City striker is pursuing the airline over an alleged marketing breach, with his representatives arguing his image was used without permission during last year’s World Cup. It is a dispute rooted entirely in commercial rights, and it has nothing to do with his football. Nothing in the case touches on his fitness, his form or his standing at the Etihad.
Inside the image rights lawsuit facing Norwegian Air
Haaland’s legal team confirmed the action in a statement to Norwegian outlet VG. Lawyer Thomas Hagen set out exactly who had brought the case and against whom.
“We can confirm that we, on behalf of York Promotions Ltd. and Erling Braut Haaland, have filed a summons against Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA.”
Hagen then explained the basis of the claim, pointing to how the airline marketed its flights during last summer’s World Cup.
“The case concerns Norwegian’s unlawful exploitation of Haaland’s characteristics in its marketing of airline tickets during the World Cup.”
Hagen declined to expand on the detail beyond that, telling VG: “We have no further comments at this time.” The brevity of that response suggests the finer legal arguments will be made in court, not in the press. For now, the public record stretches no further than those two short statements.
What the legal statements reveal about the Oslo court case
Norwegian Air’s response, relayed through company representative Eivind Hammer Myhre, struck a notably different tone. Myhre told VG the airline had been caught off guard by the legal action, as set out in a Manchester Evening News report.
“It is true that we have received a lawsuit that we do not understand.”
Myhre said the posts in question came from the airline joining in the wider national mood during the tournament, rather than any planned campaign built around Haaland.
“We, like almost all of Norway, have been involved in cheering on the national team this summer through a few spontaneous posts based on trends in social media.”
He added that Norwegian Air still hoped the dispute could be resolved amicably, rather than dragged out through the courts.
“It is a shame that the cheers have been met with lawsuits, but we hope for a reasonable dialogue so that we can also be allowed to cheer on our common sports heroes in the future.”
Commercial protection and what comes next for Haaland
The case lands at a point where Haaland’s commercial profile has rarely been higher. He has spent the season leading the Premier League goal charts, and that kind of form keeps his name attached to almost every major brand conversation in football.
It also comes amid continued interest in the Norwegian striker from clubs across Europe, a reminder that his image carries value well beyond Manchester City’s own commercial operations. For City, his pulling power off the pitch is now almost as newsworthy as his finishing on it. Protecting how that image gets used matters just as much to Haaland as any transfer talk, and it’s something we have seen test other elite forwards before.
The lawsuit follows a run of recent off-pitch milestones for the striker, underlining how closely his personal brand is now scrutinised away from matchdays. With the Erling Haaland court date now fixed for October 9, both sides face a hearing at Oslo District Court rather than a quiet settlement out of public view.
Hagen’s side has made clear it does not intend to argue the finer points through the media, and Norwegian Air has said it wants dialogue rather than a prolonged legal fight. Until the hearing itself, neither side looks likely to add much more to the public record, leaving supporters to wait for the Oslo courtroom to settle what the statements so far have only sketched out.
