Infantino's Norwegian nemesis leads the charge

A rare woman in the top echelons of soccer, the head of Norway's federation Lise Klaveness has been a thorn in FIFA's side for years.

Now, some would gladly see her take over the leadership of soccer's international governing body from Gianni Infantino.

The 45-year-old lawyer and former player, who represented Norway 73 times, has been highly vocal about international soccer's woes under Infantino.

The Swiss-Italian has been mired in controversy since his plan to open FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors was swiftly rejected last week.

On Friday, Klaveness called for him to resign.

When Infantino was elected FIFA president in 2016, "he was a candidate who had been elected on a reform program focused on good governance," she told reporters.

"Then, things quickly deteriorated: from keeping a distance, we moved to giving up, and even backtracking, all against a backdrop of a lack of independence from heads of state and other influential figures, particularly from World Cup host countries," she said.

She fired her first salvo at Infantino in 2022, just after she was appointed head of the Norwegian federation, about the conditions under which the World Cup was awarded to Qatar.

From Doha, she publicly lamented that "human rights, equality, democracy, the core interests of football, were not in the starting 11".

The following year, Norway refused to back Infantino in his re-election bid, signaling its dissatisfaction with his leadership.

Klaveness "was, in a way, the first standard-bearer for much of this criticism that many others now share when it comes to the way Infantino runs FIFA," said Mina Finstad Berg, a sports commentator for Norwegian channel TV2.

She "is very committed to ensuring that rules and decisions are respected," she added.

Trump, Balogun, investors

The reasons for her outrage against Infantino have piled up in recent months: FIFA's decision to award a "Peace Prize" to United States President Donald Trump, with whom Infantino seemingly had a conspicuously close relationship; the lifting of the suspension of US player Folarin Balogun at the World Cup last month following an intervention by Trump; and the aborted plan to open FIFA to private investors.

The Norwegian federation has decided to bring all three issues before the Ethics Committee of the world soccer governing body.

Klaveness' voice carries all the more weight after Norway, long absent from major international tournaments, enjoyed a strong run in this year's World Cup before being knocked out in the quarterfinals by England.

Internationally, commentators have praised her "strong moral compass" and consider her a serious candidate to replace Infantino if he were to step down.

He is standing for re-election for a fourth and final term next March, and is currently the only declared candidate.

"She was the only one who always took a clear stand and did not go along with the mainstream. And at FIFA, the time is right for a woman to take the lead," former FIFA head Sepp Blatter — himself disgraced after a corruption scandal — wrote on X.

Ballot box obstacles

Klaveness herself has insisted that the crisis in world soccer should not be reduced to a simple "Game of Thrones" power struggle, and has instead called for a renewed focus on good governance.

"For us, it has never been a personal issue against Gianni Infantino," she told reporters. "The problems go beyond the person who is the president."

And while she "has registered" that her name is being tossed around as a possible successor, she brushed aside questions about whether she was a candidate: "We're not there yet."

Many obstacles remain.

"In addition to being seen as extremely radical in many places, especially outside Europe, she is a woman. That is also likely to count against her in many regions of the world," Berg said.

Even within Europe's governing body UEFA, which one would presume would be most favorable to her, Klaveness failed to win election to the Executive Committee in 2023.

She only joined in 2025, when she was the sole candidate for the seat reserved for women.

"If she already has such a hard time getting elected in Europe, how could she convince Africans and South Americans?" asked commentator Erik Thorstvedt, a former goalkeeper for the Norwegian men's national team.

AFP