English Premier League
Lise Klaveness calls for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to resign immediately
Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Federation, has called for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to step down immediately, saying there can be “no turning back” in her demand for his resignation.
Klaveness made the comments during a news conference, in remarks reported by Spanish newspaper AS. She launched a direct attack on Infantino and FIFA, insisting that the governing body’s president should leave his post now.
“Infantino must resign now. There is no turning back. We demand that he step down,” Klaveness said.
The Norwegian football chief also addressed a message sent after a meeting in Rabat. She said she did not attach importance to the statement, while suggesting that Infantino and others had been put under pressure to reverse their position and apologise.
“I do not attach importance to the message that was sent after the Rabat meeting, and I fully understand that he, along with the others, is under pressure to backtrack and apologise, but I believe it was essentially a starting point for launching a counter-attack,” she said.
Klaveness went on to argue that the situation had reached a stage where extraordinary steps were needed to secure lasting change. She acknowledged that such measures had never previously been available and were not available now, but repeated that she did not believe Infantino could return to the status quo.
“We have reached a situation that requires exceptional measures to bring about permanent change. We have never had such measures before, and we do not have them now. There is no turning back for Infantino,” she added.
Her comments also followed remarks by former FIFA president Joseph Blatter, who had suggested Klaveness as a possible replacement for Infantino.
Asked about Blatter’s comments, Klaveness responded sharply and referred to her own experience of him during her playing career.
“I am not on X, but I saw what he said. I will take a screenshot and send it to him. Blatter was president when I was a player. I remember that he wanted us to play in shorter trousers than the ones we were wearing, but I have nothing more to say about this matter,” she said.
Klaveness therefore rejected the suggestion without endorsing Blatter’s intervention, while using the memory to underline her criticism of the former FIFA leader.
The Norwegian official’s remarks represent an explicit call for Infantino’s departure and a clear refusal to soften her position following the Rabat meeting. She said the pressure for a retreat and apology had not changed her view that FIFA needed a fundamental and lasting change in leadership.
Infantino is referred to in the comments as the Swiss president of FIFA, while Blatter previously held the same role. Klaveness, who leads the Norwegian Football Federation, has now placed her demand for Infantino to resign at the centre of her public criticism of the international governing body.
