Norway Cup is considering inviting the boys from the cave

An ambulance with flashing lights leaves the cave rescue area in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, Monday, July 9, 2018. The ambulance has left the cave complex area hours after the start of the second phase of an operation to rescue a youth soccer team trapped inside the cave for more than two weeks. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Norway Cup organizers hope that everything is going well with the football boys now rescued from a cave in northern Thailand. Maybe they will be invited to next year’s tournament.

Ten of the twelve boys were rescued from cave Tham Luang Nang on Tuesday morning. The football team and their coach were found alive four kilometers inside the cave after being reported missing on June 23.

“Like everyone else, we now cross our fingers for the rescue operation to go well and that all the boys and the coach are getting out unharmed. This is the most important thing, “says Hilde Østerkløft, press officer in Norway Cup, to Nettavisen.

Østerkloft announced that Norway Cup discussed the invitation of the football team to this year’s season of the football tournament at Ekebergsletta in Oslo. However, the board found that this was too early.

“The boys will probably need time when they get out before they regain their strength.  Perhaps it is more appropriate to invite the team to next year’s tournament, says Østerkløft.

The Thai football team consists of boys aged 11 to 16 years of age. The work to save the team has been very demanding because large rainfall has led to the cave being flooded more. However, in recent days the water level in the cave has sunk.

The boys who are rescued will stay in hospital for at least seven days. Thus, they will not be able to travel to Russia and see the World Cup final, as they have received a personal invitation by the International Football Association president Gianni Infantino.

“They will be able to watch the match on television,” said the health department spokesman.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today

——