Two Norwegian journalists investigating conditions for migrant workers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup were arrested and detained for 36 hours as they tried to leave the country...

The VG newspaper reported that Halvor Ekeland, a sports journalist for the public broadcaster NRK, and Lokman Ghorbani, an NRK cameraman, were picked up by police late on Sunday as they were preparing to leave for Doha airport...

The public broadcaster’s managing director, Thor Gjermund Eriksen, said NRK had not been informed of the reasons for the detention, which he considered an attack on freedom of the press and free speech. “It is unacceptable for the media to be prevented from practising free and independent journalism at one of the world’s largest sport events,” Eriksen said in a statement. “We will be discussing how this should be handled with Fifa.”...

A spokesperson for the Qatari government said: “An NRK crew were taken into custody in the early hours of 22 November for trespassing on private property and filming without a permit. The authorities arrested the crew in their hotel after responding to a complaint made by the owner of the private property on which the crew had illegally accessed. The crew were released without charge early on 23 November after completing the necessary legal procedures. The Norwegian embassy and NRK executives were updated on the situation as it progressed.”