Norway’s soccer federation has called for Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA president, saying confidence in his leadership has been lost following a controversial plan to bring private investment into the organization’s competitions.
The Norwegian federation made the decision Thursday after an internal meeting. President Lise Klaveness said the organization no longer believed Infantino should remain in charge of world soccer’s governing body.
“When trust is gone, leadership must also be assessed. We therefore believe that Gianni Infantino’s time as FIFA President should be over, and ask him to resign,” Klaveness said in a translated statement.
The demand adds to growing opposition in Europe after FIFA abandoned a proposal to attract private investment through a commercial company known as FIFA Forward Enterprise.
The plan was intended to generate investment connected to FIFA competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups. It drew criticism from soccer officials who said they had not been adequately consulted.
FIFA later withdrew the proposal and apologized for the way it had been handled. UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, said Thursday that it still had serious concerns and maintained that it had lost confidence in Infantino.
UEFA also said its threat to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions remained in place.
The dispute has created one of the most serious challenges to Infantino’s leadership since he became FIFA president in 2016. His current term is due to run through 2027, while the next election is scheduled for March.
The English Football Association has withdrawn its support for Infantino’s re election, adding another prominent European federation to the opposition.
The criticism has not been universal.
Mexico’s soccer federation expressed support for Infantino and said it would continue working with him to develop the sport across FIFA’s 211 member associations.
Argentina’s soccer federation also backed him, thanking Infantino for what it described as a decade of service and changes at FIFA.
The South American soccer confederation has also opposed any attempt to remove Infantino through an accelerated process. The African soccer confederation’s executive committee separately expressed unanimous support for him.
The division has exposed a widening gap between FIFA’s leadership and some of its European members over governance and decision making.
Concerns extend beyond the investment proposal. Norway said it plans to raise questions with FIFA about the FIFA Forward Enterprise, a peace prize awarded to Donald Trump and the suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun’s one match World Cup ban.
Klaveness said FIFA needs a change in leadership to restore confidence and improve its governance.
“FIFA needs new leadership to rebuild trust, strengthen good governance and ensure that the organization’s own reforms are actually implemented,” she said.
The latest dispute follows a FIFA summit in Rabat, Morocco, where the organization said Infantino received the full backing of senior officials and other participants.
That show of support has done little to settle the disagreement. UEFA’s continued opposition and Norway’s call for his resignation indicate that criticism remains particularly strong among European soccer authorities.
Javier Tebas, president of Spain’s LaLiga, said Friday that the lack of information provided to national associations, the FIFA Council and senior FIFA executives over the investment proposal represented a serious failure of institutional governance.
The controversy has also placed greater attention on how FIFA makes major commercial decisions and how much authority should rest with its president and executive leadership.
For Infantino, the immediate challenge is to rebuild trust among federations before the next presidential election. The support of Mexico, Argentina and the continental bodies in Africa and South America gives him an important base, but opposition from influential European associations could make the coming months increasingly difficult.
The Norwegian federation is expected to continue pressing FIFA on its governance concerns. Other member associations will ultimately determine whether the growing criticism develops into a broader challenge to Infantino’s leadership.
The dispute is significant because FIFA depends heavily on cooperation among its member associations, particularly when major competitions and commercial decisions are involved. A leadership crisis involving several influential federations could affect the organization’s ability to present a unified position on future tournaments and commercial projects.
The disagreement over FIFA Forward Enterprise also raises a broader governance question. Private investment can provide organizations with additional capital and commercial opportunities, but major changes involving World Cup revenues require confidence among the federations that ultimately give FIFA its authority.
Infantino still has substantial international support. Backing from Mexico, Argentina and continental soccer bodies means the Norwegian demand does not by itself threaten his position. The more important question is whether opposition spreads beyond northern Europe and becomes a coordinated challenge before the next presidential election.
The controversy may therefore become less about the abandoned investment proposal itself and more about transparency, consultation and the distribution of decision making within FIFA.
For now, Infantino remains FIFA president. But the public withdrawal of support by Norway and England, combined with UEFA’s continuing opposition, represents a clear political warning ahead of the next election.
