Norwegian football federation demands immediate resignation of FIFA president Gianni Infantino

Norway's demand

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) announced on Friday, 7 August, that it will formally request the resignation of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The decision was taken by the federation's governing bodies at a meeting on Thursday, 6 August, and made public by NFF president Lise Klaveness at a press conference. Norway becomes the first national federation to publicly and unequivocally demand Infantino's immediate departure. The NFF plans to send a formal letter to FIFA in the coming days and hopes other UEFA member countries will join the call.

Loss of trust

Klaveness, a 45-year-old lawyer who has led the NFF since March 2022, argued that Infantino no longer commands the confidence needed to lead the global football body. She cited a long list of concerns the Norwegian federation has raised during his tenure, including questions about tournament assignments, the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize awarded to US president Donald Trump in December, and the lifting of a suspension on American striker Folarin Balogun during the 2026 World Cup following intervention by Trump.

He does not have the institutional confidence necessary to lead FIFA in a stable manner in the period we are going through. There is no way back for Gianni Infantino.

The FFE project

The immediate trigger for the crisis was the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, announced about a week before the announcement. The plan envisioned creating a subsidiary to manage FIFA's commercial assets and events, including the World Cup, with the sale of 20% of its capital to private investors. The project aimed to raise up to $4.2 billion (about 3.6 billion euros) based on an initial valuation of $20 billion. FIFA said it would retain control and that revenues would be reinvested in football development.

The proposal met fierce opposition. CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) all expressed resistance. UEFA went further, announcing jointly with its 55 member federations that they would not participate in FIFA competitions if the plan went ahead. Infantino subsequently cancelled the project. Sources differ on the exact timing: one article reports the abandonment on the preceding Friday, another on the preceding Saturday.

Ethics complaints

Beyond demanding Infantino's resignation, the NFF has decided to refer three matters to FIFA's ethics committee: the aborted FFE project, the lifting of Balogun's suspension after Trump's intervention, and the awarding of the self-styled "Peace Prize" to the US president. The federation will also request a full review of reforms Infantino had committed to. Klaveness stressed that the issue is about governance, not personalities.

Succession speculation

Infantino, president since 2016, is currently the sole declared candidate for the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March 2027. He needs a majority of the 211 member federation votes to secure a new term. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter suggested Klaveness as a possible successor on social media platform X, calling her the only person who consistently took clear positions and arguing it was time for a woman to lead FIFA.

She has been the only one who has always taken a clear position and not followed the dominant current. And at FIFA, the time has come for a woman to take the reins.

Klaveness dismissed the speculation, telling AFP: "We are not there." She said the focus should remain on the issues raised, not on individual candidates, and that it would be strange for her to start answering questions about herself.