Rabat – Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) President Lise Klaveness called for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s resignation on Friday, saying he no longer had the trust needed to lead FIFA.
“He does not have the institutional trust required to govern FIFA stably in the times we are in. There is no going back for Gianni Infantino. The international football cooperation is very much in trouble, and we must have a reason to get together now, and we want to ask the FIFA president to resign now,” Klaveness told reporters following the NFF’s monthly board meeting, according to Reuters.
The call comes amid an escalating dispute among football governing bodies following FIFA’s decision to abandon a proposal to sell a stake in the commercial rights of future FIFA World Cups. The NFF also said it hopes other UEFA member associations will support its call for Infantino to step down.
“We will see which other countries eventually join in, if that becomes the strategy from the UEFA board – we talk to them a lot, and they have to manage that, and you will have to ask them the question. We are not going to ask for an extraordinary (UEFA board) meeting; we will ask him to resign in our dialogue with FIFA.”
According to The Guardian, the NFF is expected to formally write a letter requesting Infantino’s resignation in the coming week. Norway was among a handful of countries not to back his re-election as president next March, although several European federations have withdrawn their endorsement in the past week.
The federation also agreed to demand a full review of the reforms introduced after Infantino became FIFA president in 2016. Klaveness said the review should assess “what was implemented, what was not, and what should have been implemented” while identifying additional measures needed to ensure FIFA operates effectively.
