Norway’s association president Lise Klaveness wants to join the UEFA Executive Committee. The time for more women on the committees has long since come, she says – but her choice is by no means certain.
The UEFA Executive Committee is the most powerful body in European football: it is here that the important decisions about the European Championships, the European Cup, questions of money and responsibility are made. Of the 20 members of the Executive Committee, 19 are male. Lise Klaveness, President of the Norwegian Football Association, wants to change this situation at least a little.
“It’s also the biggest sport in the world for women”says Klaveness in an interview with the sports show. “It’s not a men’s sport, so women have to be there.” UEFA’s statutes provide for a quota place for a woman on the Executive Committee. However, Klaveness is expressly applying for one of the other places.
Klaveness didn’t want the quota seat
There were considerations as to whether the quota place would have been easier to reach, says Klaveness. “It’s been a dilemma. But I want to be chosen for my performance”, she says. For the only seat reserved for a woman, step now Laura McAllister out of Wales without a contestant. “It also wouldn’t have felt right for me to try to block the only other woman who could get on the Executive Committee.”
Should Klaveness be successful at the UEFA Congress on Wednesday (April 5th, 2023) in Lisbon, the number of women on the UEFA Executive Committee would double – and with two out of 20 members it would mean only ten percent of the places. “Of course this can only be a start”, says Klaveness. But this beginning is far from certain. Because Klaveness meets a usually well-connected, powerful and male competition.
A woman and ten men apply for seven places
At the 2023 Congress, seven seats on the Executive Committee will be awarded for four years. Ten men compete alongside Klaveness. Of the eleven people standing for election, four will fail. UEFA’s 55 national associations each have one vote for each person standing for election.
For Klaveness, one of the candidates may be a problem: Jesper Möller Christensen from Denmark is running for re-election. Because Karl-Erik Nilsson from Sweden (elected until 2025) is already a member of the executive committee from Scandinavia, it is considered rather unlikely that the assembly will elect two candidates from Scandinavia to the committee.
| person | country | Choice |
|---|---|---|
Jesper Moller Christensen | Denmark | re-election |
Philippe Diallo | France | re-election |
Armand Duka | Albania | re-election |
Peter Fousek | Czech Republic | re-election |
Lise Klaveness | Norway | re-election |
Levan Kobiashvili | Georgia | re-election |
Andriy Pavelko | Ukraine | re-election |
Rod Petrie | Scotland | re-election |
Hugo Quaderer | Liechtenstein | re-election |
Luis Rubiales | Spain | re-election |
Bjorn Vassallo | Malta | re-election |
* In addition occurs Laura McAllister (Wales) unopposed for the female seat, Florence Hardouin (France) will not stand for re-election. Hans-Joachim Watzke (Germany) is standing unopposed for the remaining two years of Rainer Koch’s (Germany) term of office, who is leaving the board at the request of the DFB.
DFB President Neuendorf: “There should be more women in these bodies”
Does the German Football Association support Klaveness? “If you look at the governing bodies in FIFA and UEFA, then I also think that more femininity could do both bodies good.”says DFB President Bernd Neuendorf in an interview with the sports show.
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf
At the same time, he points out that the election is secret. “That’s why I won’t come out completely. But I’ve also documented often enough that I agree with Lise on many points. And in general, my opinion is that more women belong on these committees.”
A second woman from Europe is also possible on the FIFA Council
There could also soon be two women from Europe on the FIFA Council, on which UEFA has nine seats. Evelina Christilin from Italy holds the quota place for a woman. There is also another type of quota place for the associations from the United Kingdom – England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are generally entitled to a place on the FIFA Council according to their statutes, which is also a position as vice-president of FIFA. The Northern Irishman David Martin had englands Greg Clarke replaced after a racism scandal.
English FA Chair Debbie Hewitt
meanwhile is Debbie Hewitt Chair of the English FA and reclaims Britain’s quota place for England in a contest vote. All 55 UEFA associations also vote on this place. Hewitt As a woman, she wrote football association history back in January: In her capacity as England’s association president, she became the first woman to chair a general assembly of the International Football Association Boards (IFAB) directed. The IFAB advises and decides the general football rules.