Norwegian misses election success
Lise Klaveness remains combative after UEFA “shame”.
04/06/2023, 8:09 p.m
While the German representatives, Hans-Joachim Watzke and Bernd Neuendorf, can be happy after the UEFA election, a Norwegian is frustrated. Lise Klaveness fails miserably on her historic election mission. But she wants to keep fighting.
After her setback in the pursuit of equality, Lise Klaveness marched out of the imposing Centro de Congressos in Lisbon with a scowl on her face. But the frustration about her crushing election defeat quickly gave way to the will to fight – the president of the Norwegian Football Association switched to attack mode: “Of course I’m disappointed that it didn’t work out,” she said with some distance: “But I was prepared for it.”
She always knew “that the probability that I would not be elected was greater than that I would be elected. But I was always sure that this would be the start of the next election campaign,” she told the local television station NRK: “I will run again in 2025. I hope that it will no longer be an issue that a woman will be elected.” After all, this time she has received many supportive messages from women.
Klaveness, who is extremely committed to the fight for human rights and equal rights, wanted to make history and be the first president of the association to attack one of the “normal” mandates on the Executive Committee – but she failed painfully. With just 18 out of 55 possible votes from the member associations, she ended up in tenth place out of eleven, the men’s alliance was still far too strong to choose a second woman outside of the quota place.
FIFA Council as a role model?
“Just as we have already managed to do in the DFB, diversity would also be important in the international committees,” said DFB boss Bernd Neuendorf: “I would have liked to see a little more women on the committees.” At least that worked in the FIFA Council. There, the English head of the association Debbie Hewitt clearly prevailed over the previous incumbent David Martin from Northern Ireland in the election for the vice-president of the British countries. For the first time, a woman hit a man in a continental election.
“That’s definitely remarkable,” emphasized Neuendorf. In addition, Welshwoman Laura McAllister, who had no opponent via the quota place, was appointed UEFA vice-president by the Executive Committee. President Aleksander Ceferin also emphasized this – and quickly dismissed the echo in Klaveness’s personnel: “I wouldn’t call it a mistake,” said the re-elected Slovenian. In a democratic election, the delegates would have decided: “That’s why it’s the way it is.”
Nevertheless, he was “sure that Lise is doing a good job and will have a bright future in our organization,” said the Slovenian. But the numerous critics were hardly reassured by this. “It’s a shame,” said Norway’s star striker Ada Hegerberg, for example, “we finally have to make progress.” Klaveness himself finds it “unacceptable that we continue with the same imbalance” of 19 men and one woman on the Executive Committee. However, the belief that this can be changed at some point remains unbroken for the Norwegian.