Lise Klaveness has called for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to leave office immediately, saying there can be “no turning back” from her demand for his resignation.
The president of the Norwegian Football Federation made the comments during a news conference, in a strongly worded criticism of FIFA and its Swiss president. Her remarks were reported by Spanish newspaper AS.
“Infantino must resign now. There is no turning back. We demand that he step down,” Klaveness said.
She was also critical of a message issued after a meeting in Rabat, saying she did not attach importance to it and believed it had been driven by pressure on Infantino and others to withdraw their positions and apologise.
“I do not attach importance to the message that was sent after the Rabat meeting,” she said. “I fully understand that he, along with the others, is under pressure to withdraw and apologise, but I believe it was basically the starting point for launching a counter-attack.”
Klaveness added that the situation had reached a stage where extraordinary measures were needed to bring about lasting change.
“We have reached a situation that requires exceptional measures to create permanent change,” she said. “We have never had such measures before, and we do not have them now. There is no turning back for Infantino.”
Her comments were made in response to the continuing dispute surrounding FIFA, although the source article does not provide further details about the Rabat meeting or the message that followed it.
Klaveness was also asked about former FIFA president Joseph Blatter, who had suggested that she could be a possible replacement. Her response was equally direct.
“I am not on X, but I saw what he said. I will take a screenshot and send it to him,” she said.
Blatter was FIFA president when Klaveness was a player. She recalled an incident from that period involving the clothing worn by female footballers.
“He was president when I was a player,” Klaveness said. “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.”
The remarks place Klaveness in open opposition to Infantino and represent a direct call for the FIFA president to resign. Her criticism also extends to the response made after the Rabat meeting, which she portrayed as part of an attempt to mount a counter-attack rather than resolve the underlying dispute.
She did not indicate what specific exceptional measures she believed should be taken, while the source article gives no further details about her proposal or about Blatter’s suggestion that she might replace Infantino.
