The delegates at the UEFA Congress in Lisbon do not elect the Norwegian federation leader Lise Klaveness to the highest body of the European football association. So there is still only one woman represented.
Norwegian Lise Klaveness was able to not prevail in the elections in Lisbon
The small revolution has failed. Lise Klaveness has not achieved her goal of breaking through the male domain in the European football association UEFA . The president of the Norwegian Football Association NFF failed at the UEFA Congress in Lisbon in the election for the executive committee. Ten men had applied for the seven new places to be filled on UEFA's highest body – and Klaveness. She received the second fewest votes: 18 out of 55. It remains the case that there is only one woman among the 20 members of the UEFA Executive Committee.
Although the UEFA Statutes stipulate a quota for a woman on the Executive Committee provided, the 41-year-old Norwegian deliberately ran for one of the other places. “I don't like the system where the few female representatives compete against each other before the normal election,” Klaveness had said. The place reserved for a woman went to Welsh Laura McAllister.
Brave and open-minded
“The time to act is now,” Klaveness tweeted ahead of the UEFA Congress: “I am ready to work for change, to protect the game and the players and football to make it more inclusive.” The former Norway international, who played 73 international matches for her country, is considered an opinion-loving football official who doesn't mince her words.
Just before the World Cup at the end of 2022, she caused a stir at the FIFA Congress in Qatar with a memorable speech on human rights. Klaveness had sharply criticized the World Cup organizers and the world association. In March, she refused to support FIFA President Gianni Infantino during his re-election at the FIFA Congress in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.
Ceferin confirmed for another four years
The re-election of Aleksander Ceferin as UEFA President in Lisbon – like that of Infantino in Kigali – was a mere formality. Since the 55-year-old Slovenian had no opponent, he was confirmed in his post by acclamation, i.e. applause from the delegates, until 2027. Ceferin has headed the European Football Association since September 2016.
Before his re-election, he again sharply criticized the plans of some big traditional clubs for a so-called “Super League” in his speech. “It's really good that nobody has ever died of shame,” said the Slovenian towards the Super League makers. He sees a “wolf disguised as a grandmother, ready to eat you,” Ceferin said. Three founders of the Super League, which failed in 2021 – FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus Turin – are currently making a new attempt to establish a product that competes with the UEFA competitions. The European Court of Justice is also involved and is examining whether the UEFA model is still compatible with EU law.
Watzke and Neuendorf elected
As expected, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and DFL Supervisory Board Chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke have joined the top bodies of international football. Neuendorf was elected by applause to represent UEFA on the FIFA Council. Watzke also had no opponents when he was appointed to the UEFA Executive Committee and received a slap on the back from Neuendorf after the election by acclamation.
The two top German officials are each completing the last two years of their predecessors' terms of office, who are in Coordination with the DFB had withdrawn from the post. Former DFB Vice Rainer Koch had previously been on the UEFA Executive, Peter Peters on the FIFA Council.
In the end, there was a small success for the women at the UEFA Congress in Lisbon. In the elections for the European posts on the FIFA Council, the Englishwoman Debbie Hewitt clearly prevailed against David Martin from Northern Ireland – that was a first for a woman in this election.