By Philip O'Connor
STOCKHOLM, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) President Lise Klaveness called for the resignation of FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Friday, saying that he no longer had the confidence of the football community.
"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.
The comments come amid the ongoing bitter conflict among governing bodies sparked by FIFA's abandoned proposal to sell a slice of the World Cup's commercial future, and the Norwegians are hoping that other UEFA countries will row in behind their 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," Klaveness said.
The 45-year-old Klaveness, who is a qualified lawyer, began by going through a long list of concerns that the Norwegian FA has expressed to FIFA during her tenure, which began in March 2022.
Among them were questions around the awarding of tournaments, the inaugural FIFA peace prize that was awarded to U.S. President Donald Trump in December, and the overturning of a ban for American forward Folarin Balogun during the recent World Cup following a call from Trump.
As an outspoken critic of Infantino, Klaveness' name has been put forward as one of the possible successors to the Swiss-Italian administrator, but she waved away speculation that she might stand for election.
"I register these names, and that my name is also mentioned, that is registered. It's not a theme at all - we have no reason to comment on that or any other candidacy, nor are we ready for it," she said.
(Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Christian Radnedge)
