Women lead challenge to Infantino as Fifa governance crisis deepens

Gianni Infantino is facing the biggest challenge of his decade as Fifa president, with Wales’ Laura McAllister and Norway’s Lise Klaveness at the forefront of opposition to his leadership.

The pair, the only women on UEFA’s executive committee, have become prominent critics of Infantino during the fallout from his failed attempt to establish Fifa Football Enterprises (FFE), a private equity-backed venture.

Their opposition has prompted fresh debate over whether football, a sport whose governing structures have traditionally been dominated by men, is ready for a woman to become Fifa president.

“It would be wonderful to see a woman elected as president of Fifa,” McAllister, a UEFA vice-president, told Reuters. “But it’s far more complex than that.

“I’d like to think we’re not far off having a female president, but I fear we are because I think the game has to do some catching up with the rest of society.”

The discussion gained further momentum when former Fifa president Sepp Blatter publicly backed Klaveness on Tuesday and said a woman should now lead football’s world governing body.

McAllister, however, warned that the political dynamics within Fifa would make such a change difficult.

“It’s not as simple as simply bringing forward a woman,” she said. “She might well be the best candidate for the job. But let’s not pretend it’s a simple meritocracy here. It’s not.”

Infantino’s FFE proposal collapsed after strong resistance from UEFA and other continental governing bodies. Wales became the first of several national associations to withdraw their support for his re-election, before opposition spread inside Fifa itself.

The Fifa president was due to hold an emergency meeting in Morocco on Wednesday as the dispute intensified.

McAllister’s proposal for a boycott of Fifa events received unanimous backing at UEFA’s emergency meeting last week. She said the current confrontation pointed to problems that went well beyond the FFE plan.

“There are signs that this is an issue that’s reaching a crisis point, if it isn’t already at a crisis point,” she said.

Eroded trust

McAllister identified several controversies that she believes have weakened confidence in Infantino’s leadership. They include Fifa’s links to the failed European Super League project, political disputes connected to the World Cup and the governing body’s decision to overturn a red card given to American striker Folarin Balogun during the tournament.

That decision followed a call from United States President Donald Trump for Infantino to review the punishment.

“All of this tells me that there are deep problems in the governance of Fifa,” McAllister said.

She believes the dispute is also about preserving the principles that should underpin football. McAllister and Klaveness were both international players for Wales and Norway before developing professional careers outside the pitch and moving into football administration.

“We were both international players for Wales and Norway, and then we both developed our own professional careers. Lise is a lawyer, and I’m a political scientist. But we’re also very values-driven individuals,” McAllister said.

“For us, if football loses its values, then it loses its heart and soul, and therefore, the existential crisis is very real. So it was important for us to have our voices heard.

“I think sometimes women are less bogged down with the business of football and more focused on what the game really is,” she added. “The game is there for everybody, from grassroots to elite. It is as much for girls as it is for boys. It should reach every corner of the world in the poorest countries as well as the globally successful ones. It shouldn’t be bought by private capital and nor should there be any political interference in how we run the game.”

Only 10 of Fifa’s 211 member associations are led by female presidents, one of them being Klaveness.

A candidate challenging for the Fifa presidency would need support from associations outside Europe as well as within the continent. Although Klaveness and McAllister have helped lead the resistance to Infantino, McAllister said the case for female leadership should not be forced.

“We have to pave the way, and we have to build, and we have to keep building momentum,” McAllister said. “Sometimes softly softly is the best approach because we can get there faster than by trying to force a revolution.”

Michael Payne, a former marketing director at the International Olympic Committee, said football had been slower than other sports to promote women to senior leadership positions.

“The fact that the IOC is now led by a woman (Kirsty Coventry), I would make an important distinction between the IOC and Fifa,” Payne told Reuters. “The IOC has been pioneering in sport gender equity for a decade or more, two decades, and the Olympics are now 50-50 equal between men and women competing. The World Cup of football is not 50-50 equal.”

Reuters