Lise Klaveness: ‘Certainly there are people that can challenge Infantino’

As rain whips around Oslo's government quarter, Lise Klaveness is shielding herself from the wind, working out tactics to challenge FIFA leadership. The president of the Norwegian Football Federation wants to re-engage FIFA and other governing bodies on the topic of remedy, an aspect of human rights policy that gained prominence after the World Cup in Qatar.

Families of those injured or killed in work related to the Qatar tournament were left without financial compensation after FIFA chose to direct a legacy fund elsewhere. Klaveness's prompting led FIFA to conduct a review, which found the organization did have responsibility to provide remedy, but FIFA ultimately chose not to redirect the money.

Reform Focus

Klaveness aims to ensure new practices are in place for Euro 2028, co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, and the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia where labour movement sources suggest there is currently little external scrutiny on worker conditions.

While Gianni Infantino has assured the "vast, vast majority" of FIFA's electorate will back his re-election next year, Klaveness sees this as an opportunity for change. She has been a persistent critic since raising the remedy topic at the FIFA congress in 2022 and called for Infantino's resignation this summer after the Balogun red card and FIFA Forward Enterprise scandals.

Presidential Ambiguity

The 45-year-old Klaveness has been touted as a possible candidate, earning an endorsement from disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter who said she "deserved the utmost respect" and that "the time has come for a woman to take over the leadership." Klaveness responded by recalling Blatter's earlier controversial remark about women players wearing "shorter shorts."

Klaveness's position on a presidential run is nearly, if not entirely, ruling it out. "My name has come up a few times and I take it as a sign that [people are concerned] about governance because we have been very outspoken about governance," she explains. "We've had a role internationally that is not the most efficient way to get votes."

She believes it's crucial that any challenger to Infantino is persuaded to stand before the nomination deadline on November 18. "It's really important to have a candidate and one who can win," she says. "We will welcome any candidate, but just putting up somebody who will lose is ..." She shrugs. "I think it's important to now discuss who can have a platform to win."

Collaborative Approach

Klaveness prefers a collaborative approach to achieving solutions rather than deals struck behind closed doors. She wants reforms around remedy to apply to all organizers and competitions, building alliances to back proposals ensuring funds are set aside for remedy before tournaments and establishing distribution mechanisms.

"It should also be in UEFA and other places but let's start with FIFA, let's start at the top, and now that governance is on everybody's lips let's make this part of the suggestions we will make to the congress, together or alone," she states. The former midfielder with 73 Norway caps made her case on remedy to politicians commemorating the 50th anniversary of the OECD's guidelines for 'responsible business conduct.'

Klaveness presides over two successful national sides - Norway's women face a playoff against Wales for World Cup qualification, while the men won hearts and matches in the US this year. "Football is a lot of things, a sport, a competition, a cultural phenomenon," she reflects. "It's also a social tool, but if we want the game to be for everyone there is going to be conflict. It won't be too long before that conflict resumes."