Arsenal star Martin Odegaard has taken legal action against Se og Hør, a weekly magazine in his native Norway, and Dagbladet, a newspaper.
That’s according to VG, who report that the 26-year-old Arsenal star has, through his English lawyer Tim Lowles, announced lawsuit after a report in the magazine about his new home in England, which he shares with his wife and their young son.
“The article describes the location of our client’s recently purchased family home and includes photographs of it,” Lowles wrote in a letter to the magazine’s editor.
The lawyer claims that the report constitutes a significant attack on the Arsenal star’s right to privacy, which he believes is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. The report was published in Se og Hør and the partner newspaper Dagbladet.
But they believe that they are within their rights, with editor in chief Niklas Kokkinn-Thoresen at Se og Hør rejecting the demand to remove the article.
“I take this with stoic calm,” he said.
“The demand will not be complied with, as this is of great public interest and we have not identified where the home is.”
“Here we are on safe editorial ground and this is of course not a violation of privacy” he added in comments to VG.
Dagbladet go into a little more detail on the matter, pointing out that this is not the first time that they’ve had an issue with the Arsenal star. For example, Se og Hør’s photojournalist Andreas Fadum was removed by two security guards outside Gjerdrum Church where Odegaard got married on Saturday.
Dagbladet’s and Se og Hør’s reporters on site were also physically removed from the site by Geir Ellefsen, the security manager for the event. He has defended the actions of his staff.
“My guards are clear that he was on his way to the guests,” he said.
“I wasn’t there myself, but I trust what they tell me. The wedding planner asked him to leave. He refused, because he thought he could stay anywhere, as he thought this was a public place.”
The newspaper have reported them for this, even claiming that in conversations with the head of security, he apologised for the incident.
“The reporter was standing outside the privately set up barricades, and the journalist was filming in a public place to cover a very public event. Then a private person attacked our reporter, preventing the journalist from doing his job,” stated Dagbladet editor-in-chief Frode Hansen.
“However, we still see the attack on our reporter at the scene as very serious, and a clear violation of press freedom. Therefore, we are reporting the incident, not least on a principled basis. We cannot allow force to be used against journalists and photographers on assignment.”
The newspaper also alleges that Ellefsen made threats against TV2 during the wedding, calling them “bottom of the list” and insisting that they are “losing all goodwill” when it comes to the Norwegian national team. The Arsenal star is a prominent member of that group.
Now it appears Odegaard is going head-to-head with the newspaper group legally, upset at the latest incident he clearly feels has crossed the line.
