The Norwegian Federation wants Infantino to resign

"We will ask the FIFA president to resign now," said Norwegian football president Lise Klaveness.

The Norwegian Football Federation, at the forefront of criticism of Gianni Infantino for several years, will ask the FIFA president to resign, its president Lise Klaveness announced on Friday.

"He does not have the institutional confidence necessary to lead FIFA stably in the period we are currently going through. There is no going back for Gianni Infantino," said Ms. Klaveness at a press conference.

"We will ask the FIFA president to resign now," she added, the day after a meeting of the governing bodies of the Norwegian federation who notably decided on their position regarding the much-criticized FIFA president.

President of FIFA since 2016, and for now the only declared candidate, Infantino must secure a majority of the 211 votes from the member federations of the body to be re-elected next March.

"He can no longer unite people"

The Italian-Swiss has been mired in a crisis since the failure of his plan to open FIFA to private investors, suffering pressure in particular from UEFA, with its 55 members, and Concacaf, which brings together 35 federations from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

"Given the chaos we are in, he can no longer be the figure capable of bringing people together," Lise Klaveness insisted to AFP.

Some, like former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, have mentioned Lise Klaveness as a possible candidate to succeed Infantino, which would make her the first woman at the head of FIFA.

"She was the only one to always take a clear stand and not follow the mainstream. And at FIFA, the time has come for a woman to take the reins," Blatter wrote on the X network.

"We are not there yet," Lise Klaveness told AFP on Friday.

"For us, it's now about the issues I just mentioned, and not about specific individuals. It would be strange for me to start answering questions about myself, and that goes for everyone," explained the 45-year-old lawyer.

The Norwegian federation has also decided to refer three cases to FIFA's ethics committee: the aborted project to open up to private investors, the cancellation of the suspension of American player Folarin Balogun during the 2026 World Cup after an intervention by Donald Trump, and the awarding by FIFA of a so-called "peace prize" to the American president.

She will also demand a full review of the reforms to which Infantino had committed.