Norway's football chief lays out plan to rebuild FIFA without Infantino
Norway's football federation president Lise Klaveness, a long-time critic of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, outlines five steps for reforming the organization, saying the crisis is both personal and structural.
Lise Klaveness, president of Norway's football federation, has for years criticized FIFA president Gianni Infantino's leadership style, with concerns dating back to the 2022 Qatar World Cup and growing sharper after revelations this summer of Infantino's secret plan to sell parts of the tournament to private investors, including Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital. The scandal drew wider attention, prompting several European nations to join Norway in calling for Infantino's departure, alongside political figures such as Britain's prime minister and Canada's premier.
In an interview with Politico, Klaveness, a former international player, lawyer and judge, said FIFA's problems are both individual and structural. She argued Infantino was elected on one agenda but has governed on another, distancing himself from the reforms that brought him to power after the 2015 crisis.
Five steps for reform
Klaveness outlined five main changes: selecting committee members more independently, cutting the FIFA Council from 37 members to a third or half its size, establishing clear regulation between the president's and the general secretary's roles, moving away from a strategy focused purely on growing commercial revenue, and reviewing and implementing the reforms Infantino was originally elected on in 2015.
She also voiced concern about FIFA leadership's overly close ties to state leaders, saying the issue predates Donald Trump and has persisted for about four years. Klaveness credited UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin and former FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour with halting the plan to sell off World Cup rights, saying without them it likely would have gone ahead.
