Klaveness: ‘The president has missed several opportunities’

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Lise Klaveness (41) confirms in a telephone conversation what has not been a secret since the World Cup in Qatar: “We do not vote for Gianni Infantino.” While it is clear that he would be re-elected, she will not support him as president of the Norwegian Federation. “We expect more leadership, better collaboration with stakeholders and transparency.” There are universal values ​​written down in FIFA’s statutes. These would have top managers in their DNA. “The president has missed several opportunities to show leadership.”

Young, fearless, gay, successful. The mother of three is the complete opposite in a male-dominated world. Klaveness was a top football player, worked as a lawyer, judge and banking adviser. She was the first woman in her home country to commentate on a men’s football match on TV, the association’s first female technical director and is the first female president since 2022. At the beginning of April, she aspires to a place on UEFA’s executive committee – but not for the women’s quota, although the electoral chances for it would be considerably higher.

role model for many

A year ago, Klaveness caused a stir at the FIFA Congress in Doha when she harshly criticized both FIFA for awarding the World Cup and hosts Qatar for not respecting human rights. “We discussed with our members for a long time whether we wanted to boycott the World Cup, but decided not to do it. For this, the president would have to speak critically at Congress about what I did,” Klaveness tells Blick. “It was a tough job But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

The outrage was great, the host reacted insulted. The Norwegian received applause from all over the world for her courage and her clear words. A gay from Africa, a sports journalist from South America or Nepalese workers would have felt heard by their words. “There were many inspiring conversations and encounters.” Klaveness, who is married to former international Ingrid Fosse Saethre, also took a personal risk with her trip to Qatar. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.

fight against discrimination

The advance of the Norwegian federation in Kigali is also aimed at the World Cup in Qatar. This requires FIFA to honor its obligations and pledge to compensate workers injured in connection with the World Cup in Qatar. The World Cup in Qatar was a great risk and danger for many people. The application is intended to prevent this from being awarded for future tournaments.

Klaveness is concerned with the implementation of the values ​​enshrined in the articles of association, in which there is no room for discrimination on the basis of gender, origin or sexuality. “It is difficult to reward big events in countries where homosexuality is banned, for example, because many players and fans are gay.” The fact that the World Cup was a sporting success and ultimately took place in a safe environment does not alter the fact that the award to Qatar is not acceptable.

Klaveness does not deny that progress has also been made under Infantino’s leadership, such as the new tender procedure, better financial transparency or the introduction of a human rights policy. But that was the clear assignment for the new leadership. “After the arrests and suspensions, this was absolutely necessary, because FIFA was on trial.” FIFA should continue to focus on these points in the future. “It’s not their job to create more and more leagues. This puts continental associations at risk.”

Promoter of women in football

In addition to the international calendar, which Klaveness describes as “very fragile”, the 73-time international is also concerned about the development of women’s football. “It’s also the biggest sport in the world for women.” But the global football community is still a long way from equal treatment. “We need the same access and the same amount of time spent on women’s and men’s football.”

Only a handful of FIFA’s 211 member associations are chaired by women. The Norwegian holds everyone responsible for the development of women in football: FIFA, the national associations, the clubs, the sponsors, but also the journalists, who wrote only a fraction of their articles about women. Everyone faces a dilemma because they generate money with men that would cost women. “But if you do what you’ve always done, nothing will change and this trend will only be reinforced.”

Source : Blick