Time for more women at UEFA's top table, says Norway's Klaveness
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[March 08, 2023]
By Philip O'Connor
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The time has come for more women at the
highest level in football and not just representing the women's
game, Norwegian Football Association (NFF) president and UEFA
executive committee candidate Lise Klaveness told Reuters.
The 41-year-old former Norway international said that she did not
want to be appointed to the highest committee of European soccer's
governing body, known as ExCo, and instead is aiming to break new
ground by being elected by the other national associations.
"I'm the first female president to ever run for an ExCo election,
which is pretty critical when you consider that it's the biggest
sport for girls and women in the world, so we need a board that
reflects that," she said in a telephone interview.
Part of the Norway team that finished fourth at the World Cup in
China in 2007, Klaveness played 73 times for her country and served
as Norway's technical director before being elected NFF president a
year ago.
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"Men's football is just as close to my heart as women's football, I
find that technical competence has to be represented in the
boardrooms, alongside business skills and entertainment skills and
investment skills, but the technical aspect needs to be very
well-represented, and I'm ready to do that," she said.
Having climbed to the highest post in her country's football
association, Klaveness is looking for broader female representation
across the board.
"I am for a system where you're elected because of merit, so the
reason why I talk about female representation is that I think it's a
very important thing for football structures," she explained when
asked why other nations should vote for her.
GOOD INSIGHT
"I will be ready to do a good job in the ExCo because I have good
insight to the game -- I've spent my life in football, both on the
women's and the men's side," she said.
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![](../images/030823PIX/sports39.jpg)
Football - Norway v Italy 2005 UEFA
Women's European Championship Group B - Deepdale, Preston North End
FC - 12/6/05 Norway's Lise Klaveness in action Mandatory Credit:
Action Images / Lee Smith
![](../images/ads/current/graue_lda_4_2021.png)
"I was the first female to ever commentate on the
men's game in Norway, on the World Cup and Premier League, and then
the first technical director to lead the men's national team, and
now the first female president."
A qualified lawyer specialising in employment law, Klaveness gave a
fiery speech at FIFA's congress in Doha in March last year, urging
delegates to consider the situation of migrant workers and LGBT
people ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, which took place in November
and December.
While she says she has seen progress in football in terms of
equality over the last two decades, the former midfielder said there
is still work to be done.
"I definitely see the progress and it inspires me, but it does not
change that, on some level, it's going the opposite direction - for
example, gaps increasing between bonus payments between the men and
women," she said.
The elections to UEFA's executive committee will take place at the
governing body's congress in early April, and Klaveness is hoping
that its members will be ready to give their votes to a female
candidate.
"I think it's time, and it's an important step ... I think that, if
we want diversity down the (football) pyramid, we need to walk the
walk at the top level," she said.
(Editing by Toby Davis)
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