Infantino’s FIFA Future in Trouble? Norway Makes Shock Call for President to Quit

Pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino intensified on Friday after Norway’s football federation called for him to resign, saying it had lost all confidence in his leadership following the collapse of his controversial World Cup commercial plan.

The Norwegian Football Federation held a meeting on Thursday, where it decided to formally seek Infantino’s immediate departure. Federation president Lise Klaveness said the organisation no longer trusted the FIFA chief and believed the situation had reached a point of no return.

“We decided that there is no trust in Infantino now,” Klaveness told The Guardian, adding that concerns about FIFA’s leadership had been building steadily over several years.

Norway’s move comes amid growing unrest within European football over Infantino’s leadership and a failed proposal to commercialise World Cup profits through a subsidiary known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).

FIFA eventually abandoned the plan and apologised, but the decision has failed to calm opposition. UEFA, European football’s governing body, said Thursday that its threat to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions remained in place. It also reiterated that it had lost confidence in Infantino.

The latest development adds to a mounting challenge ahead of FIFA’s presidential election scheduled for next March. The English Football Association has already withdrawn its support for Infantino’s re-election bid.

Infantino appeared to have secured backing from senior FIFA officials earlier this week during a summit in Rabat, Morocco. FIFA said he had received full support from those attending the meeting.

However, UEFA’s continued opposition and Norway’s direct call for his resignation indicate that dissatisfaction, particularly across Europe, remains strong.

Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported that the federation also plans to submit a fresh complaint to FIFA’s ethics committee. The complaint is expected to cover several issues, including the FFE proposal, the peace prize awarded to US President Donald Trump, and FIFA’s decision to suspend a one-match World Cup ban involving Folarin Balogun.

Klaveness said Norway believed “extraordinary measures” were now necessary to bring about lasting change within FIFA.

The Norwegian federation’s decision represents another significant setback for Infantino as resistance to his leadership continues to grow in the run-up to the FIFA presidential election.