Norway's Football Chief to Complain to FIFA Over Balogun's Suspension

Norway's football chief said they will file an official complaint to FIFA about the suspension of Folarin Balogun's World Cup ban. Lise Klaveness, who leads the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF), believes this has put "the whole game at risk."

Klaveness plans to get support from her board to take this complaint to FIFA's ethics committee. She said the issue stems from an incident that "should not have happened."

The NFF had already lodged a formal complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino for giving the governing body's first Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump, which many people mocked.

"I will bring it to a board meeting and discuss with my board, and then we do it," Klaveness told The Times in an interview published on Thursday. "To me, it should be in the same sphere of ethical complaint."

Trump's connection to the Balogun incident added to the controversy. Balogun received a red card in the last-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which led to an automatic suspension for the match against Belgium. But FIFA intervened and lifted his ban, causing widespread backlash, especially after it was revealed that Trump had called Infantino.

Belgium seemed motivated by the controversy and beat the co-hosts 4-1. "When you bend a rule like this, you’re on a slippery slope that will put the whole game at risk," Klaveness said.

"It is a worry for the game when you compromise fundamental rules of the game. First of all, it should not have happened. It is very important now to have honest communication around it."

Klaveness believes everyone knows that this decision was affected by outside forces and did not follow the right process. "We need our leader in FIFA to say that this was an error," she added.

Klaveness, a former international player for Norway and head of the NFF since 2022, warned that giving in to a head of state sets a dangerous example. "If you start to adapt in such a way towards state leaders and state politics, you will change your behavior and the organization’s behavior, and also the red line of what state leaders should interfere with," she said.

"And that happened." Klaveness was also not happy that, according to The Times, the decision to suspend the ban was made only by FIFA's disciplinary committee chairman, Mohammad al-Kamali, without consulting other committee members.

"When you make controversial decisions, and when there has been an external, very powerful voice in your ear, it’s very important that you have more voices (making the decision)," she said. "And if you don’t, it’s a mistake."

Klaveness stressed that this issue cannot just be ignored. "To try to sweep this under the carpet now will not fly," the 45-year-old lawyer said. "Too many felt this… coaches, players, fans… that this was too close to the game."

Though Klaveness does not plan to run against Infantino in the presidential election next year, she is critical of South America's proposal to increase the finals from 48 to 64 teams. Norway recently returned to the finals after a 28-year break, losing to England in the quarter-finals.

"Smaller nations like ourselves, that haven’t been there for 20 years, showed the World Cup could be extended to 48 teams," Klaveness said. "It’s not in football’s interest, or even reasonable, to now start to talk about 64 teams, 48 teams was a big change."

"If you bring the discussion now to 64, and powerful people say it, you will create distrust. The World Cup should not interfere with the domestic leagues, or the confederations, more than it does today."