Norway’s soccer federation calls on Gianni Infantino to resign over failed World Cup plan

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Norway’s soccer federation wants Gianni Infantino to step down immediately, piling more pressure on FIFA’s embattled president Friday.

Infantino is facing a revolt after his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.

The Norwegian federation met Thursday and president Lise Klaveness said the decision had been made to ask Infantino to resign.

“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 via translation.

The announcement is the latest blow for Infantino as the fallout continues over his controversial plan to sell profits in the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).

European soccer’s governing body UEFA said Thursday its threat to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions remained in place despite FIFA abandoning and apologizing for its failed plan.

It reiterated its stance that it had lost confidence in Infantino.

Earlier this week Infantino appeared to have held off the potential of an internal revolt during a summit meeting with top staff in Rabat, Morocco.

FIFA said the president had been given the full support of those in attendance.

But UEFA’s response, followed by Norway’s direct call for him to resign shows the sense of anger from Europe, in particular, remains strong.

The English Football Association has also withdrawn its support for Infantino’s re-election next March.

He did, however, receive backing from Mexico’s federation.

The Norwegian federation said it would raise concerns with FIFA regarding FFE, the peace prize awarded to Donald Trump and the suspension of Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban at the World Cup.

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“FIFA needs new leadership to rebuild trust, strengthen good governance and ensure that the organization’s own reforms are actually implemented,” Klaveness said.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer