Manchester City's Erling Haaland sues Norwegian Air Shuttle

Manchester City star Erling Haaland has sued Norwegian Air Shuttle for the unauthorized use of his portrait rights in an advertising campaign, which depicted his distinctive hairstyle with a ‘tail’ on an aircraft. The hearing is scheduled for October 9 at the Oslo District Court. This follows the widely known financial case concerning Manchester City.

Unauthorized use of visual material

According to Haaland’s lawyer, the case concerns the illegal use by Norwegian Air Shuttle of distinctive images of the striker in the promotion of airline tickets during the World Cup, a statement told AFP. The exact advertising pieces are not publicly known, but the newspaper Verdes Gang reports that it concerns a now‑removed advertisement in which an aircraft displays Haaland’s distinctive hairstyle, complete with a ‘tail’. The accompanying text of the advertisement read: ‘We’ve never looked so Norwegian before’.

Norwegian Air Shuttle regrets having to go to court and emphasizes that, like almost all of Norway, it has encouraged the national team this summer through spontaneous messages on social media, a spokesperson told AFP. He added that it is a pity that these encouragements have now ended up in a lawsuit, but he hopes for a reasonable dialogue to continue supporting sporting heroes in the future.

Besides this lawsuit, Haaland already has enough on his mind due to the high‑profile financial violations of Manchester City, which recently received a lot of media attention. Nevertheless, the Norwegian striker continues to focus on his sporting performances.

The distinctive ‘tail’ that Norwegian Air Shuttle once placed on an aircraft is no longer characteristic of Haaland; a month later the goal‑machine opted for a completely different haircut. This illustrates how quickly his image can change off the pitch.